


Where I Can See The World

by Dazzling_Sang



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, BUT THEY ARE POSSIBLE TW, Cursed Hongjoong, Cursed Seonghwa, Eventual Smut, Human Experimentation, I lied there is not going to be smut, Magical Elements, Past Abuse, Pirates, Prophecies, Slow Burn, Smart Yeosang, Soulmates, TAGS BEYOND THIS POINT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, Vampire Jongho, Vampire Jung Wooyoung, Vampire San, Vampire Yunho, Vampires, Violence, Witches, everyone except woosang are minor characters tbh, fast burn, feelings are acknowledged early but nothing actually happens for a long time, it's 3am idk what tagging is, i’m too uncomfy sorry it will just be implied, maybe tbh I'm not sure at this point but we're tagging it just to be safe, no beta we die like men, really minor homophobia, them being pirates actually ended up having very little to do with the plot I'm sorry, vampire mingi, yeosang be like oh shit he a vampire... he cute tho, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24308080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazzling_Sang/pseuds/Dazzling_Sang
Summary: Vampires. Everyone knew they existed.Yeosang had heard the tales. Faraway cities being attacked and left as a ghost town. Monstrous creatures attacking swiftly in the night and gone by morning. Sometimes no one even knew they had come until they woke up and found the bodies.He never expected to end up in a tale of his own.
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung & Kang Yeosang, Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, minor Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa - Relationship
Comments: 41
Kudos: 237





	1. A Village by the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> So... I wasn't planning to publish this until it was finished but it's 3am so I decided that we're gonna yolo
> 
> This is 100% the product of writer's block but I don't think it's bad??? I'm honestly kind of enjoying writing it so ????? 
> 
> It's written in 3rd person but is non-omniscient from Yeosang's point of view, so a lot of stuff is mentioned and left unexplained for a long time

Vampires. Everyone knew they existed. 

Yeosang had heard the tales. Faraway cities being attacked and left as a ghost town. Monstrous creatures attacking swiftly in the night and gone by morning. Sometimes no one even knew they had come until they woke up and found the bodies. 

Many so-called vampire hunters visited the inn and tavern Yeosang’s mother owned, so he knew all the stories. Heard all the terrifying tales. He had been told by the hunters to watch his back, as vampires were demonic creatures who didn’t care about who they attacked. They went for anyone young and pretty. Yeosang was young and pretty. One particularly nasty, scarred man told him that he should be careful if he even left the tavern, as a face like his was sure to bring unwanted attention. 

Yeosang had never been one to heed the warnings of others. Which is probably how he ended up in his current situation. 

Yeosang’s life was uneventful. In the 21 years Yeosang had been alive, his little seaside village had never been attacked. He’d seen his fair share of pirates coming in and out of the tavern but most of them left his town alone as they treated pirates fairly and didn’t call the navy on them. The vampires and bandits must have just been uninterested he supposed. 

And so Yeosang, along with the rest of his town, was unsuspecting and unprepared when they were suddenly attacked. 

Yeosang awoke in the middle of the night to screaming, crashing, and the smell of burning wood. It took a few moments for him to register the noises, to feel the heat on his face that came from the glowing orange light outside his window. He launched himself out of bed and raced to his mother’s room only to find it empty. Hurrying downstairs to the main tavern he was met with the pungent smell of blood and the back of a single large man. 

Yeosang immediately retched, the smell churning his stomach. 

That was mistake number one. 

The man slowly turned around. There was an agonizing moment of silence as Yeosang took in his features. Blood dripped from his hands, his nails long and claw like. His shirt was torn open as if someone had grabbed at it. As Yeosang’s gaze moved up to the man’s face, he was met with blood dripping from the man’s chin, sharp white fangs protruding from between his lips and glowing, feral red eyes. 

It was then that Yeosang noticed the bodies that littered the floor. 

Mistake number two. 

His eyes flickered to the bodies for one second, but that seemed to be the trigger. The man, the _vampire_ , growled before lunging toward Yeosang. At the same moment the sound of snapping wood was heard as the door to the tavern burst open. The last thing Yeosang registered before his world went black were claws breaking the skin on his arm and the sound of a voice. 

“Leave him alone!” 


	2. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapters get steadily longer as the story goes on I swear I'm sorry these two are short

The first thing Yeosang thought as he opened his eyes to a wooden roof and swinging lamp above him was that he should have listened to that hunter. He should have been more careful or done something like permanently scar his own face so he would be unappealing to anyone who potentially wanted to kidnap him. 

Anything so he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. 

Yeosang wasn’t an idiot. It took him all of two seconds to understand that a wooden ceiling and swinging lamp meant he was on a ship. And since the last thing he remembered was being attacked, it was likely he’d been kidnapped. 

Yeosang blinked a few times, not daring to look around. He didn’t feel any ropes or chains on his body. In fact, it felt like he might actually be laying on a bed. Not a very comfortable one, but a bed nonetheless. 

He experimentally moved his arms. No restraints. Next his legs. No restraints. Finally, he slowly began to lift himself up, only to be met with a searing pain in his upper right arm. He let out a shout of pain and looked to his arm, only to see it wrapped in bandages from shoulder to elbow. The bandages looked clean but he could see fresh blood staining them from where he had obviously reopened a wound. 

The door to the room he was in burst open, causing Yeosang to jump and another jolt of pain to run through his arm. 

“What happened I heard a shout?” came a new voice. 

Yeosang looked towards the door. The man who had walked in was tall and skinny, with jet black hair and a worried look in his wide eyes. The man’s gaze narrowed onto the fresh blood seeping through the bandages. 

“Dammit I thought I’d stitched it well.” The man hurried towards the bed, causing Yeosang to flinch away. The man stopped. 

“I need to look at your wound again,” he said carefully. “You pulled open one of your stitches, it won’t heal properly if I don’t fix it.” 

Yeosang stared at him a moment before reluctantly relaxing, holding his arm out toward the man who immediately rushed to his side and began to unravel the bandages. 

Yeosang glanced at his arm once the bandages were gone and felt his vision sway. There were four nasty, deep, jagged cuts running down the length of his arm. They looked almost like claw marks, like an animal had dug its claws in at his shoulder and yanked its hand down his arm. Like a cat sliding down curtains and shredding them. 

Three of the cuts were stitched up crudely, but the one closest to his inner arm had been yanked open by the use of his muscles when he tried to sit up. Obviously, whoever had stitched them up didn’t really know what he was doing. 

“This is going to hurt since you’re awake,” said the stranger, beginning to thread a needle. “I’m not very good at this, we don’t have an official ship medic and no one gets hurt this badly all that often. I’m the only one with any sort of medical knowledge so I got put in charge of injuries.” 

_Well that’s reassuring_ , he thought sarcastically. 

“Not reassuring, I know, but I at least know enough to keep you from losing your arm. Unfortunately I think you’ll still be left with scars though.” 

At that moment Yeosang’s stomach decided to growl loudly. The other man chuckled. 

“Once I’m done here we’ll see about getting you some food. I’m sure you’re starving; you’ve been asleep for two days.” 

Yeosang gulped. Two days was a long time. They could have travelled a great distance in two days. 

“My name is Seonghwa by the way, you’ll meet the rest of the crew once we find you some food. After that I’m sure the captain would love to know you’re awake.” 

Yeosang pondered for a moment, practically boring a hole in the wall as he stared. Why had this crew seemingly saved him? He was worried about meeting the captain, but figured if he wasn’t dead by now then maybe he was safe. But then why had they kidnapped him? His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in his arm. 

“Ah!” he let out a shout, trying to flinch his arm back. Luckily the man, Seonghwa, had a stern hold on his elbow. 

“Sorry. Try not to move, that will make it worse.” 

Yeosang grit his teeth, trying not to flinch as the needle touched his skin. 

“Do you have a name?” asked Seonghwa. 

Yeosang nodded. 

“Are you going to tell it to me?” 

Yeosang thought for a moment before slightly shaking his head. He figured the less these people knew about him, the safer he’d be for now. 

“Well, at least I know you can understand me. There, all done,” he said, tying off the fresh bandages he’d wrapped around Yeosang’s arm. “Let’s get you some food.” 

Seonghwa held out a hand to help Yeosang off the bed. Yeosang eyed it warily before accepting the help, knowing that if he’d been asleep for two days then he might have trouble standing up. Seonghwa made sure he was steady before leading him to the door and stepping out onto the deck. 

Yeosang blinked as the unexpected bright sunlight almost blinded him. It must have been around midday, and the deck was full of people moving around and shouting, trying to be heard over the sound of the waves slapping the hull of the ship as they moved. 

“Hey, Seonghwa! Is our new guest awake yet?” shouted a large muscled man from about midway up the mast. 

“Aye, he’s right here,” shouted Seonghwa in response, jerking his thumb back and moving so his tall frame no longer blocked Yeosang’s small one. The other man whistled. 

“He’s a pretty little thing, ain’t he?” 

Yeosang shivered. 

“I dare you to say that when Wooyoung is around,” shouted back Seonghwa, voice suddenly venomous. The other man visibly paled. 

“I didn’t mean anything by it! Please don’t tell him I said that, Seonghwa sir.” 

“I won’t tell him, but you better watch your tongue from now on,” responded Seonghwa icily before quickly leading Yeosang away. Yeosang curiously wondered who this Wooyoung could be to elicit such fear in such a large man. The captain, perhaps? 

“That’s Hyunwoo, you can ignore him. He’s part of the day crew, but I have a feeling you’re going to spend more time with the night crew.” 

Yeosang nodded. 

“We’re almost to the kitchens, where you’ll meet Yunho. Yunho is a floater, like me. The two of us are the only ones with any sort of cooking ability, so we take turns cooking for the day crew even though both of us are mainly part of the night crew.” 

Yeosang had no idea what any of this meant. He’d never even stepped foot on a ship before. He knew some of the lingo from the many sailors that stayed at his mother’s inn and tavern, but didn’t have any firsthand experience. From what he knew though, having a whole separate night crew was not that normal. 

Seonghwa pushed open the door to the kitchens and Yeosang was hit with the strong smell of cooking meat. Now, Yeosang didn’t exactly live in poverty as his mother ran the only inn and tavern in a seaport town and so he ate his fair share of meat, but he knew enough to know that having _meat_ out on the open sea was nothing short of kingly luxury. Just who were these pirates? 

“Yunho!” shouted Seonghwa. The sound of clanging pots and pans could be heard before a man popped up from behind the counter. A very _large_ man. He had to be twice Yeosang’s size, but rather than being intimidating he looked kind of like a giant teddy bear. He had wide, innocent eyes, fluffy brown hair and a lopsided smile. 

“Oh, hello!” he said brightly. “I’m glad you’re awake, are you hungry?” he asked Yeosang. 

Yeosang nodded before he could stop himself. 

“Well here, lunch is basically ready, I’ll get you enough to fill you up before those crazy animals get ahold of it.” He quickly turned to the stove, fixing a heaping plate of steaming meat, bread, and dried fruits. 

Yeosang didn’t have the heart to tell him he’d never eaten that much in his life and probably wouldn’t be able to finish it. 

“You can sit over there at the counter,” he said, pointing to a stool in front of a tiny space of empty table. Seonghwa took him by the shoulders and steered him towards the space, leaning down to whisper in his ear. 

“Just eat what you can, I know you won’t be able to finish all of that. Don’t stuff yourself, you haven’t eaten in a few days you’ll make yourself sick if you eat too much.” 

After finishing his food Yunho gave them a cheery goodbye, warning Yeosang to stay away from the main deck during meal time as the day crew could get rowdy, especially when there was meat involved. 

“We’re going to see the Captain now,” said Seonghwa, leading Yeosang down an enclosed hallway. This boat sure had a lot of enclosed spaces, it was almost like an entire house on top of a ship. When they reached heavy, ornate double doors Seonghwa stopped him. 

“Hold on, he may be asleep,” he said, before promptly slipping through the doors and leaving Yeosang standing in the hallway alone. 

_What the hell?_ he thought. If he was a hostage, they must be pretty sure he wasn’t going to run. Not that there was anywhere to run on a ship. It’s not like Yeosang could jump overboard as he couldn’t swim, but they didn’t know that. Still, he could run away and hide until the next time they docked and then slip off the ship. For some reason, however, Yeosang didn’t feel the need to do that. In fact, he felt almost safe with these strangers. Before he had time to dwell on that, the doors opened again to reveal Seonghwa, looking slightly more ruffled than he had when he had gone in. 

“Come on,” said Seonghwa with a smile. “The Captain is ready for you.” 

The room he entered was quiet. As there were no windows, it was lit only by oil lamps, giving it a soft yellow glow. A plush four poster bed sat in the center of the wall across from the door, and to the left was a large desk covered in parchments and papers. 

“I see you’re awake,” came a voice, startling Yeosang. The chair behind the desk slowly swiveled around, revealing a small man sitting intimidatingly, staring at Yeosang icily. He heard Seonghwa snort behind him. The man’s gaze immediately dropped, turning into one of a frustrated child. 

“Hwa! You ruined it! I was trying to be intimidating!” 

“Sorry, Captain, but you’re about as intimidating as a squirrel.” 

The Captain let out a noise of frustration, standing up and walking over to the two. To his surprise, Yeosang noted that the captain was the tiniest man he’d ever seen. He was even shorter than Yeosang. 

“I was just trying to mess with you, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that we don’t intend to hurt you,” said the Captain. 

“Then why did you take me?” said Yeosang quietly. Seonghwa seemed startled by him speaking, and the two quickly exchanged a glance of pity. 

“What do you remember?” asked the Captain. 

“Shouting. Burning. Blood. Someone attacked me, maybe with a knife or something?” he unconsciously grabbed his arm, trying to fill the holes in his memory. 

“Your village was attacked by vampires,” stated the Captain simply. “There were no other survivors.” 

_No other survivors._

_No survivors._

“But, my mother,” Yeosang began quietly. 

“I’m sorry,” said Seonghwa. “If we had gotten there earlier maybe but... by the time we showed up almost everyone was dead. Wooyoung saved you and brought you to the ship. He didn’t know what else to do.” 

The Captain and Seonghwa exchanged another puzzling glance. 

“I see,” said Yeosang softly. 

“What’s your name?” asked Seonghwa, gently putting his hand on Yeosang’s shoulder. 

“Yeosang. Kang Yeosang.” 

“All right, Yeosang. I know you’ve been through a lot, but there’s never really going to be a good time for this. You need to decide by the time we reach port tomorrow whether you want to stay with us or leave. If you have any skills that would be useful to us, we welcome you with open arms.” 

“I... I can clean and cook a bit. And I know first aid. My family owned an inn and tavern.” 

“Well, we could always use someone who knows some real first aid. We don’t need it much but sometimes some members of the day crew could use a lil patching up.” 

None of the Captain’s words were truly registering with Yeosang. He still couldn’t believe that his mother was dead. That his entire _town_ was dead. 

“Why don’t we go back to the infirmary so you can get some rest, yeah?” came Seonghwa’s soft voice as a warm arm wrapped around his shoulders. Yeosang simply nodded, and so Seonghwa led him to the door. 

“Oh, and Yeosang?” called the Captain. They paused, and Yeosang turned back to the small man. 

“Don’t go out onto the deck tonight after the sun sets. If you need something, ring the bell in the infirmary.” 

Yeosang nodded numbly before letting Seonghwa guide him back down the hall and across the busy deck to the infirmary. 


	3. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had decided to try naming chapters for once in this fic and bruh it is so hard
> 
> after this chapter things will start to pick up, it's basically the last really introductory chapter
> 
> anyways I am currently writing chapter 12 right now and worried that i'm maybe rushing things hmm... I also am writing it like... the story is romance centered and the fantasy plot-line is kind of secondary? hopefully I'm doing a good job of it we'll have to see

Yeosang awoke drenched in sweat, his breath coming in pants and the image of bright red eyes and dripping bloody claws burned in his mind. 

_ A nightmare. _

He  sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings. Without windows, it was impossible to tell the time.  He glanced at the small oil lamp that bathed the room in a soft yellow glow but it was useless when he didn’t remember how much oil was in there to begin with. 

He took a few deep breaths, trying to steady his heartbeat, when he was overwhelmed with the feeling of nausea. 

Scrambling out of the bed, he stumbled his way to the door, only thinking of fresh air. A small voice in the back of his head was telling him that opening the door was a bad idea, but at the moment all he could think of was getting to the side of the ship and heaving over the edge. 

He burst through the door and into the crisp night air, the stars blanketing the sky illuminating the sea for miles.  Making his way to the railing, he practically drank in the cool fresh air. 

Placing both hands on the railing, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths, feeling his nausea ebb away. 

“What are you doing out here?” 

Yeosang jumped at the voice, losing his balance and feeling himself teeter over the railing before someone gripped his shirt and yanked him back, causing him to go sprawling across the deck. 

He looked up and found himself staring into the sharp eyes of a boy around his age.  The boy seemed to be around the same height as him, but of a slightly wider build. His silver-purple hair practically glowed under the starlight, and for some reason Yeosang felt trapped by his gaze even though the brown eyes were anything but warm. 

“You’re not supposed to be out here,” the boy spoke again, his high - pitched voice sounding eerily familiar. 

“S-sorry,” said Yeosang softly. Before he could even try to stand up on his own the other grabbed him by the arms and yanked him up with inhuman strength, causing Yeosang to cry out in pain as a little too much pressure was put on his wound. 

“Shit,” said the boy, immediately letting go of Yeosang  as if he’d been burned. His eyes zeroed in on Yeosang’s wound as fresh blood began to seep through the bandages. 

The boy sucked in a quick breath. “You need to get inside,  _ now _ ,” he repeated. 

Yeosang continued to stand there like an idiot. Something, he didn’t know what, was keeping his limbs frozen in place.

“Wooyoung? Why do I smell blood?” came a new voice from somewhere on the upper deck. 

“Go!” said Wooyoung  with a snarl , pushing  Yeosang toward the infirmary door as his eyes flashed red. 

Yeosang snapped out of his daze, running back into the infirmary and slamming the door behind him. 

_ Shit.  _ _ So that was Wooyoung. _

_ And he’s _ _ a vampire.  _

Yeosang’s panicked breaths were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.  He had no time to respond before the door flew open and Seonghwa rushed in, locking the door behind him. Seonghwa’s gaze zeroed in on Yeosang’s once again bleeding arm before he moved towards him, causing Yeosang to flinch away once again. 

“Get away from me!” he shouted.  Seonghwa froze.

“You saw,” he said simply. 

“Yeah, I saw. Why the  _ fuck  _ did you not tell me there was a vampire on board?” 

“You need to forget what you saw,” Seonghwa said, his tone so serious that Yeosang forgot his anger for a moment. 

“What?”

“You need to forget what you saw. Hongjoong can’t know you found out about Wooyoung being a vampire.” 

“What? Who is Hongjoong?” 

“The captain!” said Seonghwa urgently.  “If you want to leave this boat alive, he can’t know.” 

Yeosang gulped. “What do you mean?” 

“This is our most closely guarded secret. If others found out there was a vampire on our crew  the consequences would be severe. Humans and vampires don’t work together, that’s not the way the world works. No one can know.” 

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” said Yeosang. 

“But Hongjoong can’t guarantee that. Letting you go while you know this secret means putting his entire crew at risk. Putting his  _ family  _ at risk. He told you not to go on the deck at night. You could only safely leave the boat if you didn’t know anything about us.  Now you’re possibly a danger. You either stay or you die. Unless Hongjoong doesn’t find out.” 

“What about Wooyoung? Won’t he tell?” 

“No, Wooyoung won’t tell.  Wooyoung accidentally revealed himself while trying to protect you. If any of the other crew members had seen you on deck tonight, they would have told Hongjoong and that would have been the end.” 

“Why are you protecting me?” 

Seonghwa was silent for a moment, gazing at Yeosang with a look he couldn’t decipher. 

“I hope you’ll choose to stay with us.” 

“What?”

“I hope you’ll stay with us. Wooyoung didn’t stumble upon you by accident, I think you were meant to be a part of this crew.” 

“That’s…. that’s crazy. I’ve never been on a ship in my life, I can’t even  _ swim _ .” 

“Please just think about it,” said Seonghwa softly.  Yeosang wanted to argue how crazy Seonghwa sounded, but something in Seonghwa’s expression stopped him. He nodded curtly. 

“Good,” said Seonghwa with a soft smile. “Now can I restitch your wound?” 

Yeosang looked at his arm as the blood began to cover the bandages. He relaxed his stance with a sigh. “Only if you let me walk you through it.” 

Seonghwa blinked in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me this morning that you knew how to stitch a wound?” 

“Hey, I thought you had kidnapped me. I wasn’t about to give you any information that could be used against me.” 

Seonghwa chuckled as he began to unwrap and clean Yeosang’s wound. “Noted, you’re a smart one,” he said with another smile. 

~*~

Yeosang  awoke the next morning with a heavy heart. He had an important decision to make that day.  In his mind, he knew the smart decision would be to leave and never look back. It was a  _ pirate  _ crew and one of the crew members was a  _ vampire _ for heaven’s sake. No sane person would stay. 

And yet, Yeosang couldn’t shake the feeling in his heart that he didn’t want to leave.  He’d never heard of a good vampire, but something in his heart was telling him that Wooyoung  had no intention to hurt him.  And Seonghwa seemed like a good person.  The captain was still a bit of a mystery. 

Yeosang lay on the uncomfortable infirmary bed, watching the lamp above him sway  with the waves. 

He already knew what his decision was. 

Carefully, so as not to pull his stitches again, he sat up in the bed.  He looked curiously around the room. There was a washbasin and a few small barrels of fresh water, but he knew that on a ship clean water should be conserved . Though they  _ were  _ supposed to be docking today so maybe he could splurge a little and wash his tired face. 

He decided against it, not wanting to do anything to upset Seonghwa or the Captain, and instead slapped his cheeks a few times and ran a hand through his  golden  hair before  quietly opening the infirmary door and  peeking through. 

They were already docked, the deck practically deserted as the mid-morning sun  shone hot and heavy above them. 

“Ah! Yer awake!” came a  deep voice next to him. Yeosang startled, looking to his left to see a  young  boy seemingly standing guard outside the infirmary.  His voice certainly didn’t match his face, the boy couldn’t have been more than fifteen. 

“My name’s  Junhyuk ,  I’m one of the deck swabbies of the day crew. I was told to  take you to the Captain’s quarters when you woke up.” 

Yeosang nodded, and the boy gave him a smile before leading him off towards the hallway from yesterday.  As they approached the Captain’s chambers the boy lost the skip in his step and rearranged his facial expression into something much more serious before knocking on the door with a purpose. 

“What?” came the Captain’s voice. 

“It’s  Junhyuk , sir! I’ve brought uh… umm… ” the boy glanced at Yeosang. 

“Yeosang,” he supplied with a small smile.  The boy was really cute, Yeosang couldn’t help but be nice to him. 

“I’ve brought Mr. Yeosang, sir!” 

The Captain didn’t reply, instead footsteps were heard before the door was unlocked. 

“Well, I’m not allowed inside,” said the boy with an awkward smile. “Good luck!” 

With that the boy scurried back down the hallway. Yeosang took a deep breath before pushing the doors open. 

Inside he found the Captain and Seonghwa standing in the center of the room. The man from the day crew that Yeosang had met yesterday,  Hyunwoo , stood a bit away from them,  obviously trying hard not to look nervous. Yunho sat crosslegged on the desk, seemingly uncaring about the papers being crumpled underneath him. Also, surprisingly,  leaning against the wall opposite the desk stood Wooyoung, his sharp gaze flickering away from  Hyunwoo as Yeosang entered before moving quickly back. 

“Ah, Yeosang,” said the Captain, Hongjoong. “I see you’re awake. Did you sleep well?” 

“Yes,” he lied. The truth was Yeosang had tossed and turned in the uncomfortable bed all night, mulling over his decision. 

“Good,” responded the Captain.  “Now, like I said yesterday I know it’s sudden and you haven’t had much time but you need to make a decision. We’re currently at the town of  Bekham Port on the island of  Supool . Still within the same kingdom we picked you up from.  You may disembark here  if you wish, we will not stop you , or you can choose to stay. However, should you choose to stay you can’t go back on this decision.  If you become part of our crew you will be part of our crew forever. You will pledge your  life and  loyalty to this crew .  Once we shove off from this port any further attempts to leave or betray the crew in any way will be met with your death.  Do I make myself clear?” 

Yeosang gulped, but nodded. 

“Use your words.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Good.  You have until tonight to make your decision.” 

“I’ve already made it ,” Yeosang  practically threw the words out of his mouth, shocking even himself. 

“Are you sure?” asked the Captain warily. 

“Yes,” Yeosang said, taking a deep breath. Then he looked the Captain right in the eye. “I want to stay.” 

The Captain held his gaze for what felt like an eternity. 

“It’s hard work,” he said.

“I know.” 

“ You’ll be a floater . We’ll need you to help in medical and cooking.” 

“I can do that.” 

“It’s going to be very different from the life you’re used to.” 

“Well I can’t exactly go back to that life anyways, can I?” 

The room was silent again. 

“Well, all right then.  You and Seonghwa can go into town today and get anything you might need. There should be a few extra bunks in the sleeping quarters, you can take your pick.” 

“ The bunk next to me is open,”  Hyunwoo spoke for the first time. “ Some of the guys down there might bother ye so it’s probably safest to stick with m-“ 

“No.” 

All eyes snapped to Wooyoung. 

“Wooyoung?” asked the Captain.

“He’s not sleeping down there . He can sleep in my room.” 

“I think he’ll be a bit more comfortable down in the sleeping quarters with  the rest of us ,” sneered  Hyunwoo . 

Wooyoung’s stare turned icy. 

“I doubt he’s used to sleeping in a hammock in a room with 30 other men.  He could barely handle the bed in the infirmary.  He can sleep in my room. There’s a real bed and I’m not using it at night anyways. I won’t be around when he’s asleep, there’s no need to worry. ” 

Yeosang flushed.

_ Am I that obvious? _ he thought. It’s true he was accustomed to a certain amount of luxury, but he thought he hid it well. 

“Hammock or no I think he’d  feel safer with us ,” continued  Hyunwoo .  Yeosang looked towards Seonghwa and Hongjoong, hoping one of them would stop this fight before it began. Hongjoong, however, looked uninterested. Seonghwa looked slightly amused and was exchanging  glances with a seemingly equally amused Yunho. 

“What if he sleeps through the s hift change , what will you do then?” 

“I’ll go to  San’s room. ” 

“I’d like to stay with Wooyoung,” said Yeosang,  slapping his hand over his own mouth as he realized what he said. Five pairs of wide eyes stared at him in shock. Yeosang cleared his throat. 

“I mean, he’s right. I’m not used to being around so many strange men. My mother raised me to be fairly cautious, so I don’t think I could sleep in a room full of strangers. And since Wooyoung won’t be there  during the night , it’s practically like my own room, right?” 

“Well that settles it then!” said Yunho, hopping off the desk with a gleeful smile.  “Meeting adjourned!” 

“I suppose it does,” said Hongjoong. “ Hyunwoo , you can go. Check on the swabbies and make sure they aren’t goofing off.  Wooyoung, take Yeosang to your room and get him a change of clothes, he looks about your size. Then Seonghwa can take him  to the port to get what he needs.” 

“Yes! And I’m going to sleep!” said Yunho giddily,  throwing open the doors and heading to another room down the hall. 

“Yunho has his own room?”  asked Yeosang curiously. 

“He shares with Mingi, another member of the night crew.  The night crew all sleep up here. Next to Yunho and Mingi is San’s room, and towards the main door is Jongho.  Wooyoung is here across from San,” explained Seonghwa. 

“Where do you sleep?” asked Yeosang, causing Seonghwa to stumble in his step. 

Wooyoung then broke out into  loud , screeching giggles. 

“Yeah, Seonghwa, where do  _ you _ sleep?” repeated Wooyoung. 

Seonghwa’s face slowly  turned beet red. He stopped walking a turned to Yeosang seriously. 

“ I stay in the Captain’s quarters,” he said, eyeing Yeosang warily. 

“But there’s only one bed,” said Yeosang, confused. 

“Yes, there’s only one bed,” repeated Seonghwa quietly. 

Yeosang’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. 

“Oh, ok then,” he said awkwardly. 

“Does it… bother you?” Seonghwa asked carefully. 

Yeosang thought. He’d heard stories of men being in relationships with other men. Most of those who came through the tavern talked of it as something taboo, but the thought never really bothered  Yeosang . According to the travelers,  Yeosang’s small stature was attractive to those sorts of men (not that he knew what they meant by that), but he still felt safe around Seonghwa and the Captain. 

“No, it doesn’t bother me,” he said decisively. 

“Well, good,” said Seonghwa, exchanging another  unreadable look with Wooyoung. “Let’s go get you a change of clothes then and we can go into town to find you your own things.” 

“I don’t need much myself, but I’d like to get a few things for the infirmary that I noticed were missing,” responded Yeosang, following the others down the hall once again.  They stopped outside Wooyoung’s door. 

“Um, it’s a bit messy, but I promise I’ll clean up before you get back tonight,” he said awkwardly.  Then he opened the door. 

Messy was an understatement.  It seemed as though Wooyoung’s dresser had exploded into his room. Clothes and jewelry were strewn across the floor and furniture.  Silk and gossamer shirts were haphazardly thrown about, along with  glittering jewelry that Yeosang prayed wasn’t real. Judging from Wooyoung’s silk sheets, however, he guessed the jewels were real. 

Wooyoung cleared his throat again, somehow having made it over to the dresser without stepping on anything.  He held out a soft looking shirt and cotton pants. 

“Here, you can wear these.”

Yeosang eyed the shirt warily , looking accusingly from the shirt in his hands to the one on Wooyoung’s back. 

“And will the collar drop all the way to my navel like all of the shirts you’ve worn or is it acceptable for me to wear to the market?” 

Wooyoung flushed, mumbling something along the lines of “it’s a normal shirt” before promptly leaving the room. Seonghwa chuckled. 

“Well I’ll leave you to get dressed, just come out when you’re done,” he said, also leaving the room. 

Yeosang quickly changed, trying not to step on anything,  before glancing at his reflection in one of the many mirrors to make sure he looked presentable.  Just as he deemed himself acceptable, something glittering on the vanity table caught his eye. He crept closer, and found a dark blue velvet choker with a single tiny diamond hanging from the center. It was beautiful.  Yeosang ran his hand across the velvet, staring. 

“You can wear it, you know,” came Seonghwa’s voice, startling him . “Wooyoung won’t mind.” 

“ No it’s ok! I don’t want to wear it!” said Yeosang quickly. He’d never worn such a thing. His mother said such accessories were only for nobles , and anyone of a lower class would just seem like a whore wearing it. 

“Please,” snorted Seonghwa. He moved towards the vanity, grabbing the choker and quickly securing it around Yeosang’s neck. “There, it looks pretty.” 

Yeosang glanced at himself in the mirror again and couldn’t help but smile. 

“Well, let’s go then!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments fuel your authors pls and thank I know I'm an awkward potato who sucks at responding
> 
> anyways if you somehow have only read this fic I also have a woosang chat fic going please check it out!!!
> 
> side note pls pray for me to get into the rtk live finale lmao


	4. Of Blood and Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is a consistent chapter length who knows not me

The port was much bigger than the one Yeosang grew up in.  Much, much bigger. 

The port was enormous, the market was crowded, and Yeosang was terrified. 

Seonghwa had said that if he saw anything he wanted to just stop, but Yeosang was practically clinging to Seonghwa as he led them through the market. Seonghwa seemed to have a better idea of what Yeosang needed anyways. So far , they had bought a comb and two pairs of boots. Now they were on to clothes before they went to find medical supplies. 

Yeosang was a bit embarrassed, Seonghwa caught him looking at some silky tunics like the ones that littered Wooyoung’s floor and immediately purchased them despite Yeosang’s protests that he didn’t need something so expensive.  Even his life of mild luxury didn’t accommodate things like silk.  His mother had deemed luxuries such as meat and a nice mattress as more important than things like clothes and jewelry. 

The sun had begun to set as they made their way  back towards the ship with arms full of goods when suddenly Yeosang  stopped, attention drawn in by one particular store. 

A book shop. 

Now, most people of Yeosang’s status couldn’t read.  His mother could only read numbers, but she claimed  Yeosang had been taught by a friendly scholar who passed through  when he was a child. Yeosang loved to read. 

“Yeosang?” came Seonghwa’s voice, snapping him out of his reverie. 

“Sorry, I’m coming,” he replied, but when he turned  Seonghwa had already made his way back. 

“Do you know how to read?” asked Seonghwa curiously.

“A little,” replied Yeosang, hoping the other wouldn’t see right through him. 

The other hummed in response. “Let’s go,” he said. “We have one more stop to make.” 

Reluctantly, Yeosang tore himself away from the book shop to follow the black - haired man through the crowd. 

As they approached their final destination, day had turned to night and the market was bathed in light from a blanket of stars and the multitude of oil lamps set up. The crowd hadn’t lightened in the least, and many stalls had swapped their wares for forms of food and alcoholic beverages. 

It turned out their final destination was a jewelry stall. 

“Pick something,” said Seonghwa. 

“What?” asked Yeosang in surprise. 

“Pick something. Anything you want. I can tell you like jewelry.”

“No, I... I’ve never worn anything like this before. This all looks too expensive.” 

He wasn’t lying. The jewelry on the table was nothing short of luxurious, full of glittering jewels and what looked like pure gold inlays. How could anyone afford this? His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted something. There, in the center. A choker that consisted of three strings of black leather with a bright ruby seated in the middle. It drew Yeosang in like a spell. He wanted it. He’d never wanted anything like he wanted that necklace. 

“Now what’s a pretty lil thing like you doin out here all alone?” came a slurred voice to his right. Yeosang felt a large rough hand wrap around his wrist as he was yanked toward the voice. He came face to face with a very large, very drunk man. 

“He’s not alone,” came Seonghwa’s stony voice. “Unhand him.”

“Unhand him? Now that’s some mighty fine speech there, what is ‘e a prince or  somethin ? Looks like a prince with that shiny jewel around his neck.” 

“Let go of me,” said Yeosang, trying to yank his arm from the other’s grip. 

“Now, now don’ be rude. I just wanna have some fun. Come have a drink with me.” 

“This is your last warning, let him go,” came Seonghwa’s voice again. 

“An’ what are you gonna do? I could snap you like a twig,” said the man huffily. 

“I believe you were asked to let him go,” came a familiar voice from behind the man. Yeosang didn’t even have time to look before the large hand on his wrist was replaced with a much smaller one and the man from before was howling in pain on the ground. 

“Wooyoung,” he said, looking at the other boy who was just a little bit too close for comfort. Wooyoung gave him a soft smile. 

“You guys are late,” he said to Seonghwa. 

“We were almost done when this man interrupted us. I was trying to get Yeosang to pick something out since he seemed to like your jewelry so much. I didn’t think he’d want to keep wearing yours.” 

Wooyoung’s eyes zeroed in on Yeosang’s neck, and Yeosang felt the blush rise from his chest as he swore Wooyoung’s eyes flashed red. 

“He can keep wearing mine,” he said with a tone of finality before quickly dragging Yeosang back toward the ship. 

Yeosang heard Seonghwa sigh behind him before the other man followed with their bags. 

Yeosang’s eyes were locked on the spot where Wooyoung held his wrist, the skin where they were connected felt like a white-hot poker. The other didn’t let go until they’d reached their room. 

Yeosang blinked in surprise. True to his word, the other had cleaned the room up. Even more surprising was the fact that there were  _ three  _ dressers. Who needed that many clothes? 

Yeosang noticed one dresser had seemingly been cleared of everything on top and likely everything inside. 

“That one’s yours,” said Wooyoung, noticing his gaze. “There’s some food on the desk, you guys weren’t back for dinner so I thought you might be hungry.” 

An awkward silence. 

“Well, I’ll be going then. Good night,” he said. He was gone before Yeosang could even respond. 

Yeosang didn’t have much to put away. His shoes went under the dresser, his clothes went inside, and his comb went on top. 

Yeosang awkwardly sat on the bed, feeling the heat rise to his face. He was about to sleep in  _ another man’s bed _ . He gingerly laid down on top of the covers. The bed was definitely much more luxurious than his bed at home, it was better than anything he’d ever laid on. 

_ Hmm, smells like Wooyoung _ , was the last thought in his mind before he drifted off to sleep. 

~*~

Yeosang awoke with no sense of the time. The first thing he noticed was that something about the room felt different. He couldn’t tell what it was, but something was different. 

Unable to shake the feeling, he went about getting ready for the day. He knew his clothes were clean enough to wear again, so he just left them on. It was when he went to grab his comb to tame his hair a bit that he noticed what was different. 

There were a lot more items on his dresser than he remembered buying. 

A bottle of perfume.  Three books. Two looked like novels, but the other was obviously some sort of medical textbook. Was it that obvious that he liked that sort of thing?

And lastly, a choker of black leather with a ruby set in the center. The same one he’d been longing for last night.

He blushed, quickly turning away from the dresser. 

_ Calm down, Yeosang. Seonghwa must have brought them for you, the man notices everything.  _

He took a deep breath, grabbing the choker before heading out of the chamber, knowing he wouldn’t be allowed back in until the evening. 

The hallway was empty, and he quickly made his way to the main deck. He was immediately blinded by the mid-morning sun as his ears filled with the shouts of the crew. Seeing no one he recognized, he quickly made his way to the kitchens, thinking he would at least find Yunho or Seonghwa there. 

He did find Seonghwa. As well as the Captain. He let out a shout of surprise as he quickly shut the door again, feeling the blush rising to his face. The Captain had been seated on a counter with the other standing between his legs, the two standing very close together. Yeosang had never even seen a man and a woman like that,  never mind two men. He heard the door open behind him. 

“Yeosang, you can come in,” came Seonghwa’s voice. He heard the Captain suppressing his laughter behind him. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt! I just wasn’t sure what I should be doing,” Yeosang responded quickly, still refusing to turn around. 

“I know, we were actually waiting for you to wake up.”

“Right! I’m sorry I’m late. I don’t really have a sense of time in such a dark room, if someone comes to wake me up in the morning for a while I’m sure my body will be used to it.” 

“No, it’s fine. We don’t actually need you to be awake until around now anyways. You’ll be in charge of lunch and dinner every day. Yunho can handle breakfast before he goes to sleep,” said Hongjoong. 

“R-right,” said Yeosang, finally cautiously turning to look at the two. 

“I’ll help you with lunch today, and then we can go to the infirmary to put away the things you bought and organize it the way you like.” 

“Okay,” said Yeosang, feeling a small sense of relief. 

“Well I’ll be going then,” said the Captain before quickly taking his leave without so much as a goodbye. 

There was a moment of silence, but it wasn’t awkward.

“Is that another one of Wooyoung’s necklaces? I’ve never seen that before,” commented Seonghwa. 

“Huh?” asked Yeosang in confusion. “You didn’t buy this for me?” 

“No, I didn’t,” said Seonghwa, equally confused. 

“I was looking at it last night, at the jewelry  stand ,” Yeosang said softly. A smirk broke out across Seonghwa’s face. 

“Looks like someone has a secret admirer.”

Yeosang felt the blood rush to his face and quickly turned away, beginning to prepare the food as he heard Seonghwa snicker. 

~*~

Yeosang spent his next few days in a simple cycle. Wake up around mid-morning, cook lunch for the day crew, clean up the kitchen, cook dinner for the day crew, leave the kitchen. His evenings were spent doing random cleaning jobs that he found and chatting with Seonghwa until the sun had set. Occasionally he would have a mild injury to treat from the day crew. Then he would go back to his room and read until he fell asleep. 

The cycle wasn’t broken for five days. Five days later, he was awoken in the middle of the night by a worried Wooyoung. 

“Yeosang, we need you in the infirmary,” he said, quickly grabbing the other by the wrist and dragging him toward the door. 

Upon opening the door they were met with a startled Seonghwa. 

“Oh good, Wooyoung already woke you up. Quickly, we need you in the infirmary.” Seonghwa quickly turned on his heel to lead the way, but instead of going towards the main deck  he  stepped through some small side door that led to a staircase. Down in the belly of the ship there were four more staircases, but Seonghwa led them to the farthest one, which Yeosang soon found led to the infirmary. 

The sight he was met with inside was positively gruesome.

A crew member he’d never met sat on the bed, seemingly all right if not for the giant, gaping, bleeding gash across his chest. 

“Oh my god,” said Yeosang in surprise, causing five heads to turn in his direction. He recognized the Captain and Yunho, but there were two other new faces in addition to the one on the infirmary bed. He assumed they were the other night crew members.

He quickly shook his head, clearing his head. 

“What happened?” he asked. 

“We were just messing around,” came Wooyoung’s small voice. “We got some new fancy swords on our last raid. We were having a duel and I slashed him.” 

“Why the  _ hell  _ were you playing with  _ swords _ ?” asked Yeosang incredulously. “That’s dangerous!” 

“It’s supposed to heal!” said Wooyoung desperately. 

Yeosang paused. The room was silent.

“What?” 

“It’s supposed to heal,” repeated Wooyoung softly. 

Silence again. 

“Yeosang,” said the Captain carefully . “San is a vampire.” 

Yeosang’s head spun. Another vampire? Yeosang had just accepted the idea of Wooyoung and now he had to deal with another one. And on top of that, he had no idea how to treat a vampire! Vampires were supposed to heal on their own; quickly, if he recalled. The only thing that could do lasting damage were the claws of another vampire, not a sword. 

Yeosang took a deep breath. Now was not the time to be having a crisis. He looked at the boy on the bed. San, he supposed. There was no pain on his neatly chiseled face, but the blood soaking through his shirt certainly did not look good. 

“Ok,” said Yeosang. “Ok, so, you’re a vampire.” San nodded. “But you’re not healing.” Another nod. “So the sword must be enchanted.” 

He waited for someone to laugh at him.

“Enchanted that’s it!” yelled the Captain after a moment of silence. “I’m such an idiot why didn’t I think of that. Ok, I’ll be right back.” The Captain hurried out of the infirmary. 

Yeosang wracked his brain. He’d read books on enchantments. Ones that estranged travelers had brought into the inn. His mother had always said that witches and magic weren’t real, but Yeosang assumed that if vampires were real, why couldn’t magic be real? It appears he was right, based off of Hongjoong’s reaction. 

“Ok, enchanted sword. What works against enchantments? Sage? Shit, I doubt we have any sage. Uh, salt! I need salt!” 

Without a word Yunho ran down the stairs, Yeosang assumed to go to the kitchens. Yeosang hurried over to San, grabbing a knife from the counter and cutting open his shirt. He quickly set about cleaning the wound, needing to figure out where exactly it was underneath the fountains of blood that seemed to be pouring out of his body. 

“So, you’re Yeosang?” said the boy beneath him. He had a somewhat higher pitched, silky voice. 

“That’s me. San, I presume?” responded Yeosang without looking up. 

“Nice to meet you, sorry for the circumstances,” the other chuckled. Yeosang felt himself drawn in by the smooth voice, and couldn’t help but notice the other’s toned muscles as he cleaned the blood off his chest. 

“It’s what I’m here for,” mumbled Yeosang, feeling his ears turn red. Luckily, at that moment Yunho burst back into the room. 

“I have salt!” he announced.

“Thanks,” said Yeosang, taking the container from him. He looked from the container to the wound on San’s chest for a moment. “Now, I’ve never done this before so I’m not sure what the best method is. All I can say is that no matter what, it’s probably going to hurt.” 

“I can handle it,” responded San smoothly. 

“No, I mean it’s going to hurt. Ever heard the phrase “to rub salt on a wound”? We’re going to be doing that  _ literally _ .” 

“Just say you want to rub my chest again, it’s ok.”

Yeosang paused. There was another beat of silence in the room. 

“Did you seriously just flirt with me? While you’re bleeding out on the infirmary bed?”

“It’s as good a time as any,” responded San with a sly smile. 

“Whatever, let’s get this over with.” 

Yeosang looked from the container to the wound before inching closer to San. He flickered his gaze once again, indecisively. He truly had no idea what he was doing. He didn’t even know if this would work. For all he knew, he was just about to cause the other a lot of pain with no results. Finally, he took a resigned breath. 

“Let me do it,” came Wooyoung’s voice. 

“What? But you don’t know what you’re doing either,” said Yeosang. 

“It’s just rubbing salt on the wound, right? Sounds easy enough.” 

“But you should be careful, it’s going to hurt a l-” he was interrupted by San’s sharp yell. Wooyoung had marched up and snatched the container, immediately taking a large handful and pressing it against the other’s chest. 

Black smoke began to rise out of the wound. Well, at least it was working. 

“Fuck! Warn a guy next time,” said San to Wooyoung, gritting his teeth in pain. Wooyoung just shrugged. 

“Sorry,” he said casually. He didn’t seem sorry at all. It was an abrupt change from how worried he’d been just minutes ago. 

“You’re mean when you’re jealous,” pouted San. 

Yeosang didn’t have time to dwell on that comment before the doors to the infirmary burst open again, revealing a winded Hongjoong holding a large book. 

“I found it!” he said triumphantly, before looking at San as the last of the black smoke dissipated. “Oh.”

“Sorry,” said Yeosang sheepishly. “I acted on my own.” 

“Well obviously whatever you did worked, so it’s okay,” he said, tossing the large book onto the counter with a thud. 

Wooyoung stepped away from San once the last of the smoke had disappeared, and Yeosang moved to look him over. The wound was no longer bleeding, but didn’t look like it planned on healing any time soon. 

“Why isn’t he healing?” said Yeosang worriedly. The others exchanged a look. They seemed to have a mental conversation before Seonghwa spoke. 

“Um,” he said tentatively. “He needs blood.” 

“Blood?” 

“Yes. For heavy wounds, like ones caused by other vampires, vampires need fresh blood to help the healing process.” 

“Ok, so he has to f-feed on one of us, right?” asked Yeosang nervously. Another look was exchanged. 

“Not one of us,” said  Seonghwa carefully . “You.” 

Yeosang gulped. This night was getting to be too much. 

“M-me?” 

He looked around the room, noting that all of them looked a little uncomfortable as well as apologetic.  All of them except Wooyoung, who stared at him with red eyes, jaw tensed.

“You’re all vampires.” 

No one said a word. 

“But Seonghwa, he can go out in the daylight.” 

“Hongjoong and I aren’t vampires, but he can’t use our blood. It’s complicated to explain, and now is not the time,” said Seonghwa quickly. “The rest of the day crew, other than  Hyunwoo , have no idea. We can’t use one of them. It has to be you.” 

Another silence. 

“Okay,” whispered Yeosang. 

The room sprung into action. 

“Jongho, go by Yeosang. I don’t know if he’s going to faint or something from shock,” said the Captain authoritatively. One of the unknown crew members, the shorter, muscly one, moved forward. “Mingi, grab Wooyoung, we don’t need him flipping out.” The other crew member, tall and lanky with red hair, moved towards Wooyoung, wrapping his arms fully across the other’s body and locking him against his chest. 

“I’m not going to flip out!”  protested Wooyoung, but there was an underlying growl to his voice that sent shivers down Yeosang’s spine. 

“Yes you are, and you know it.  Your eyes have been red for the past five minutes.  It’s either this or you leave the room,” snapped the Captain. Wooyoung was silent. 

“Yeosang, are you ready?” asked the Captain. Yeosang glanced at Wooyoung, who was staring back at him with an unreadable look. 

He nodded. 

“This  is going to hurt. If it’s uncomfortable or starts to hurt too much , let me know,” said San softly, an abrupt change to his flirty attitude earlier. Yeosang nodded again, before tentatively holding out his wrist to the other. 

The seconds seemed to move in slow motion. He took a deep breath as the other’s eyes turned red and fangs seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He watched as the other brought his wrist to his mouth, feeling like he wasn’t even inside of his body anymore until he felt the sharp prick of teeth breaking his skin. 

It didn’t hurt, but it felt weird. It didn’t really feel like normal blood flow. More like the opposite of when someone gives you a shot. When you can feel the cold liquid entering your blood stream, except in this case it was like something was being sucked out of his blood stream. 

And then came the pain. A sharp prickly feeling that started from his wrist and began to move up his arm. 

Yeosang decided not to say anything and instead to focus on something other than where San’s lips were connected to his wrist. He looked at the other’s wound. Except it wasn’t there anymore. Well, it was there, but Yeosang stared in shock as it got visibly smaller with every drink San took. He was so fascinated that he forgot about the pain he was in until a sharp voice broke through the tense silence. 

“San, that’s enough!”  yelled Wooyoung. 

Nothing happened. 

“San, he’s crying!” said Wooyoung desperately. 

Suddenly San released him and he stumbled back, feeling dizzy. Jongho caught him from behind, and Yeosang didn’t even have the strength to right himself, letting himself rest against the other. He brought a tentative hand up to his face, only to feel a wetness on his cheeks. It must have hurt more than he realized. 

Wooyoung’s worried face suddenly filled his vision. His wrist was grabbed again, but this time it was Wooyoung pressing a cloth to the open wound. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. Yeosang nodded. “Ok, can you put pressure on this for me?” he asked again, taking Yeosang’s other hand and putting it over the cloth on his wrist. Yeosang nodded again. 

Wooyoung angrily turned to San. “You almost put him in a trance! Are you crazy?” 

“Wooyoung, calm down,” said the Captain. 

“No! Do you know how dangerous that is?”

“Yes, but he wasn’t in a trance.”

“But he almost was!”

“But he wasn’t!” said the Captain with a tone of finality. “Calm down, and take him back to your room to rest.” 

Yeosang spoke before he could stop himself. “But San’s not done healing.” 

All eyes turned to him. 

“He’s fine,” said Wooyoung sharply. “He’ll heal.” 

“At least let me stitch it up or something, that wound is still bad. If I stitch it up it will heal faster.” 

Wooyoung stared at him. “You’re not gonna let me say no, are you?”

Yeosang shook his head, pushing himself up out of Jongho’s arms to an upright position. He swayed for a moment, but managed to stand on his own. Wooyoung sighed, but moved out of the way. 

“Seonghwa, can you get me the supplies?” Yeosang asked quickly. He could stand, but didn’t trust himself to move that far. Once he had the supplies in hand, he set to work. It was harder than usual, since he was still a little dizzy, and he felt his brow furrow in concentration. 

“You know,” came a deep voice he hadn’t heard before. “He’s kinda cute when he’s  concen-OW !” 

“Shut up,” hissed Wooyoung. 

Yeosang smiled, relieved as they started bickering and broke the silence of the room. 

“There, I’m done,” said Yeosang as he finished the last stitch. He moved his gaze to San’s face. “I know you have freaky superhuman healing powers, but please be careful. We don’t know if you’re going to heal at a slower pace because of the enchantment. I don’t know the extent to which the salt counteracted it, I’m not a magic expert.” 

“Got it, doc,” said San with a mock salute. 

“You should go rest now, Yeosang,” said Hongjoong. “Seonghwa and Yunho will make lunch tomorrow, you need sleep.” 

Yeosang nodded, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. 

“I’ll take him back,” said Wooyoung, grabbing Yeosang’s arm just as the boy felt another wave of  dizziness . 

“Hold on, take this too,” said Hongjoong, holding out the book from earlier. Wooyoung tucked it under his other arm. “None of us can read it, but I have a feeling Yeosang can. It will give him something to do tomorrow while he’s resting.”

Yeosang was barely registering the Captain’s words and simply nodded, allowing himself to be led by Wooyoung back down the stairs and towards his room. Once inside, the other gently helped him lay on the bed and pulled up the desk chair to the bedside, quietly unwrapping his wrist to check the wound. 

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” Wooyoung whispered. 

“I don’t mind,” responded Yeosang, a tired slur in his voice. 

“It’s not natural, it must have been uncomfortable.”

“It’s natural for vampires to need blood, Wooyoung.” 

“But vampires aren’t natural.” 

“Says who? There’s nothing proving that.” 

Wooyoung was silent, still staring at the wound. 

“Can I heal it?” said Wooyoung, so quiet Yeosang almost didn’t hear him.

“What?”

“Can I heal it?” asked Wooyoung again, a little bit louder and more sure of himself. 

“You can do that?” 

Wooyoung nodded. “It’s... it’s a bit weird. Kind of silly actually.” 

“How so?” 

“... I have to lick it.” 

Yeosang snorted. Wooyoung looked up at him sheepishly. 

“Wait seriously?” asked Yeosang incredulously. 

“Yeah. Something about our body composition being different and whatever chemical it is inside our bodies that makes us heal can be transferred to humans through our blood or our spit. I’m not really sure, there’s not exactly a whole lot of research on it. Not many vampires are willing to lick a human’s wound and not drink their blood.”

“Can’t you just, like, spit on it then?” 

“In theory I guess, but honestly spitting on your arm and rubbing it into the wound sounds a whole lot grosser than just licking it.” 

“Well when you put it that way, yeah it does.” 

“Yeah, sorry the whole thing is weird I don’t know what I was thinking. It will heal on its own in a few days anyways and-”

“Do it.” 

“What?”

“Do it,” repeated Yeosang, looking right into Wooyoung’s wide brown eyes. 

Wooyoung’s eyes flashed red. 

“Okay,” he said. 

Wooyoung looked back towards his wrist, turning his body a bit so his back was turned slightly toward’s Yeosang’s face. Yeosang wondered if he was embarrassed. 

Wooyoung stared for a moment before tentatively bringing Yeosang’s arm up to his mouth. He took a deep breath, resigning himself, before he gave it a single slow lick. 

It felt oddly intimate to Yeosang, but that thought was quickly pushed from his mind when he watched as the wound disappeared before his eyes, leaving nothing but pale, unmarred skin. 

Wooyoung dropped his arm  abruptly  and cleared his throat, looking anywhere but Yeosang’s face. 

“That’s amazing!” burst Yeosang, smiling. Wooyoung looked shocked for a moment before smiling back at him. 

For a moment, Yeosang thought his smile was beautiful. 

The moment was broken when Yeosang yawned. 

“You need to sleep,” said Wooyoung. Yeosang settled back against the pillows, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. 

Wooyoung moved to get up, but Yeosang grabbed his hand with a force he didn’t know he possessed. 

“Stay,” he said. The last thing he remembered seeing was Wooyoung settling back down into the chair. 

He awoke the next day to an empty room and a strange feeling in his chest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can u tell I'm a bit of a sucker for sansang


	5. The Crow's Nest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Here is another chapter~
> 
> I do quite like this chapter, developing Wooyoung's character as half a broody vampire and half the child he really is has been fun for me hehe

Yeosang sat on his bed, the large dusty book Hongjoong had given to him sitting next to him. 

He had a lot on his mind. 

Namely, Wooyoung. 

But he tried to push Wooyoung out of his mind in favor of more important things, like Seonghwa and the Captain. 

Yeosang had awoken in the middle of the day to an empty room, immediately getting up to find Seonghwa and go about his day. The elder had begun yelling at him upon seeing him, telling him to lay back down, he needed to rest because he’d lost a lot of blood. 

Yeosang was antsy, and wouldn’t agree to rest until Seonghwa told him what he meant last night by him and Hongjoong not being vampires but being unable to give their blood. 

And so Seonghwa told him. And so Yeosang was confused. 

They weren’t vampires. They didn’t need to drink blood and they didn’t need to avoid the daylight. Hongjoong did by choice because he felt bad about the night crew always being the target of the day crew’s rumors. He didn’t want them to feel like they were anything less than people. 

They weren’t vampires, but they were, according to Seonghwa, over 300 years old. 

They’d always been pirates. Young and stupid pirates. When they were about 22 years old, they’d made a stupid mistake, stole from the wrong person, and were cursed. 

Cursed with immortality. 

Of course, as young, stupid boys they’d originally been elated. 

They quickly learned that their happiness was the wrong reaction. 

A more accurate title than immortal would be living dead. They didn’t need to eat, but also couldn’t eat. It would immediately make them violently ill. They didn’t need to sleep, but also couldn’t sleep, wasting away the hours of each day and night in boredom. They couldn’t feel pain and they couldn’t die from a wound, but didn’t heal quickly the way vampires did. At one point, Hongjoong had actually watched his own leg get cut off and Seonghwa had to reattach it for him. That was not a story Yeosang wanted to hear ever again. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to watch your own leg get cut off and not be able to feel it. Vampires couldn’t drink their blood because they were, in a way, no longer human. Their blood was stagnant, not containing the nutrients that vampires required from it. 

Still, Yeosang couldn’t help but have naïve thoughts that immortality might be nice. 

Yeosang also felt a little bit embarrassed. He knew so little about the world. He had never seen a vampire, didn’t even know magic _existed_ and now here he was part of a crew that consisted of vampires and cursed humans. 

He sighed, turning to the tome next to him. He had no idea what it was, and vaguely remembered something about Hongjoong saying none of them could read it but maybe Yeosang could. You’d think if they’d been alive for 300 years one of them would have learned to read. 

He tentatively opened the cover to eye the first page. 

Well, there was his answer. The text wasn’t written in the common modern language. It wasn’t even written in the old language that was used until around 500 years ago. It was written in _ancient text_. 

Ancient text was almost impossible to read. No one knew if the translations were accurate, most of it was just scholarly guesswork and linguistic comparison. Yeosang had spent a vast majority of his teen years teaching himself to “read” the ancient language through items given to him by passing scholars in the tavern. 

So, he supposed Hongjoong was correct in his crazy assumption that Yeosang could read the book. 

The title was simple and to the point. “Spells and Enchantments”. But as soon as he turned to the first page he knew this book was going to take a long, _long_ time to read. 

Two pages of introduction later, he felt like he had been reading for hours. He had decided to write a rough translation of the book as he read after finding some parchment and ink in Wooyoung’s desk. That way if he ever felt the need to reference the book it would be much easier. 

His brain felt like mush. He had no idea of the time, but knew he needed to get some fresh air after being cooped up in that room all day. 

He wondered where Wooyoung had spent the day. 

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts, Yeosang decided to go outside and get some air. Being cooped up in the room was not doing him any good, despite the Captain’s insistence that he needed rest. His wound was healed anyways, thanks to Wooyoung. 

He pushed open the door to the deck, ready to relax in the quiet night, but his ears were immediately met with cacophonous yelling and clanging. Startled, he looked to the center of the deck. 

Yunho and the two other night crew members he met last night, Mingi and Jongho, sat in a line on the ground yelling and cheering as they watched Wooyoung and San. Who were dueling. With swords. 

“What the _fuck_ is going on here?” yelled Yeosang. The scene froze. San and Wooyoung whipped their heads towards Yeosang, swords raised in the air. Mingi tried to hide himself behind Yunho, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Jongho just continued to smile like watching them all get into trouble was about to make his night. 

“What are you doing out here?” said Wooyoung, quickly standing straight and trying to hide the sword behind his back as if Yeosang hadn’t already seen it. San did the same, and the two stepped closer together as if that would hide the evidence. 

“I came out for some fresh air. What are _you_ doing?” responded Yeosang icily. 

“Um,” said Wooyoung, glancing at San. 

“Did you learn nothing from last night?” 

“These are different swords!” argued Wooyoung. 

“I don’t care! San needs to rest, not get cut open again.” 

“I’m fine!” said San hurriedly. “Look!” 

He then, to Yeosang’s shock, pulled off his shirt to reveal milky, unmarred skin. 

“Put your shirt back on!” hissed Wooyoung, elbowing San in the side. 

“I was just showing him that I healed,” mumbled San as he put his shirt back over his head. “Put your fangs away, there’s no need to be jealous.” 

“I’m not jealous!” argued Wooyoung. San simply stuck out his tongue in response. 

Yeosang just watched them incredulously as the three behind them giggled and began to try and sneak away. 

“And where do you three think you’re going?” asked Yeosang, freezing them in their tracks. 

“Nowhere,” said Yunho quickly. 

“You guys were encouraging this, get over here.” 

The three quickly stood in a line next to Wooyoung and San. 

For a moment, Yeosang felt like a parent punishing his children. 

“Do I need to remind you guys what happened yesterday? Do you want a repeat of that situation? Because I sure don’t!” lectured Yeosang. 

“Sorry,” mumbled the five boys. 

“You better be. Now give me the swords,” he said, holding out his hand. San and Wooyoung reluctantly handed them over. 

“Now go... I don’t know just go away. I came up here to relax in the fresh air.” 

Four of the boys moved towards a different corner of the deck, immediately launching into a conversation that Yeosang didn’t care to pay attention to. Wooyoung didn’t move. 

“Hey,” he said. “I know a good place to relax?” he said tentatively. 

Yeosang looked at him for a moment. 

“Okay,” he said. 

Wooyoung smiled, before reaching forward to grasp him by the wrist and lead him to the center mast. 

“Come on,” he said, grabbing the ropes attached and beginning to climb. Leaning the swords against the side of the mast, Yeosang looked at the ropes warily. He’d never tried to climb something like that before. 

“Is something wrong?” came Wooyoung’s voice from a few feet above him. 

“No,” responded Yeosang, resigning himself and grabbing ahold of the ropes. He began to climb slowly, focused on his hands and feet gripping the ropes. A little over halfway up, he’d felt he’d gotten the hang of it. He glanced up. Wooyoung had reached the top by then and was smiling down at him. He glanced to his side. 

Big mistake. 

His stomach dropped, his body froze, and he was overwhelmed with a feeling of nausea. 

“Yeosang?” called Wooyoung, noticing his frozen state. “Is everything okay?” 

Yeosang gulped. 

“Wooyoung?” he replied. “I think I’m afraid of heights.” 

He heard Wooyoung chuckle above him before feeling the rope net sway as the other climbed back down a ways. 

“Hey, look at me,” Yeosang turned towards the noise to find Wooyoung had climbed down the opposite side of the net, his face dangerously close. “Just watch me and we’ll climb together, ok?” 

Yeosang nodded, and the two slowly made their way up the ropes, Yeosang feeling the tension leave his body as he touched the wood of the crow’s nest. He immediately sat down, refusing to look over the side, waiting for Wooyoung to pull himself into the nest as well. 

“Well, so much for the amazing night view,” said Wooyoung cheekily. Yeosang glared at him, looking probably anything but intimidating as he hugged his knees to his chest. 

“Here, lay down,” said Wooyoung, shifting his position until he was laying on his back, looking up at the night sky. Yeosang just watched him for a moment. He lay with one leg propped up, one arm behind his head and one resting across his stomach. The wind blew through his hair gently as the boat sailed on and gently rocked back and forth. 

Yeosang liked this Wooyoung. The Wooyoung that talked a lot, laughed a lot, played around and was even a bit childish. He liked the Wooyoung that smiled. 

After a moment he moved to lay down next to him, not wanting to be caught staring. 

The swaying of the boat could be felt more intensely from up in the crow’s nest, but since the waters were calm the light swaying combined with a soft wind and the clear night sky created a relaxing atmosphere. 

“Do you know anything about stars?” asked Wooyoung after a few minutes of silence. 

“I’ve read a bit, but not much.” 

“My father used to tell me legends about how the stars were formed. I’m sure those legends have changed by now, though.” 

“Your father?” 

“Yeah,” responded Wooyoung quietly. “I was human once, you know.” 

Yeosang blinked in surprise, turning to stare at the other. Humans turned vampire were rare. Practically unheard of. In fact, most people thought it was just false rumors that vampires could turn humans. 

“How long?” asked Yeosang softly. 

“What?” responded Wooyoung, finally turning to look at him. 

“How long have you been a vampire?” 

Wooyoung swallowed, before averting his gaze back to the sky. 

“Five hundred and seventy-two years.” 

A beat of silence. 

“Wow. That’s a long time,” said Yeosang awkwardly. Wooyoung chuckled. 

“Yeah, it is,” he said. There was another moment of silence as Yeosang pondered what to say. “Tell me what your books say about the stars.” 

Yeosang had a lot of questions, but he could tell the other wanted to change the subject. 

And so he told him. He told him of all the legends he’d read in books. Of people who’d lived in years long past with loves so great they were immortalized in the heavens. Of battles won and of those who were thrown into the sky by the gods. 

Of course, Wooyoung interjected into every story with facts that he thought Yeosang had gotten wrong or sometimes even whole stories he’d been told different. Yeosang finally got fed up. 

“You know stars are just more suns, right? They’re just farther away so they look smaller.” 

“That’s what the scientists want you to think!” countered Wooyoung. 

The conversation progressed naturally from the things Yeosang had read about, to which Wooyoung interjected anywhere he had experience, to Yeosang’s childhood. 

“How did you learn to read?” asked Wooyoung. 

“I learned from passing travelers when I was a child, or at least that’s what my mother told me. I don’t actually have any memories from before I was eleven years old.” 

“What happened?” 

“My mother said I was in an accident and almost drowned in the ocean. I lost most of my memories and that’s why I still can’t swim. I’m kind of terrified of the water.” 

“You’re terrified of water but you agreed to become a pirate?” asked Wooyoung incredulously. Yeosang smiled down at him sheepishly, having moved to a sitting position a while ago. 

“What else was I going to do?” 

“I don’t know. Settle down in a new town. Run a new inn. Become a scholar and teach the royal family. Make a scientific discovery. You could have done anything with the knowledge you have.” 

“Hmm,” said Yeosang thoughtfully. “Maybe, but this is what felt right. Maybe some secret part of me longed for adventure, I spent my entire life in that inn you know.” 

“Really? You never travelled anywhere?” 

“Occasionally I went to the store with my mother. I avoided the beach on my own. My mother didn’t really want me going anywhere else, too afraid I would get kidnapped by pirates or something. She was a bit paranoid. Maybe because of the drowning incident.” 

“You never even left the _inn_?” asked Wooyoung in shock. 

Yeosang shook his head. “Nope, not really. Maybe that’s why reading appealed to me so much. It was my only connection to the outside world. That and the stories our patrons would tell me.” 

“So you spent your entire life essentially in one building before deciding ‘hey, I’m gonna become a pirate and sail the world!’?” 

“Basically, yeah.” 

“You’re incredible.” 

“How so?” 

“You just are. Your world was turned upside down and you just... went with it. You never seem shocked by anything. Any normal person would have had a mental breakdown after finding out they were living with five vampires but you just offered your blood like it was nothing.” 

“Well, what’s the use in freaking out? Plus, agreeing to help was the logical decision. Based off of my impressions of you, Seonghwa, and the Captain there was no indication that San would hurt me. I’m part of the crew now, and isn’t a crew supposed to be like family?” 

Wooyoung was giving him a strange look, and Yeosang felt the flush rising from his chest and up his neck. Before he could question it, however, a deep voice came from just below the entry to the crow’s nest. 

“Wooyoung! You better be decent, I’m coming up!” Wooyoung took off one of his shoes at an inhuman speed and launched it in the direction of the entry just as Mingi’s face appeared, hitting him square in the forehead. 

“Ow!” he whined. “What was that for?” 

“For existing,” responded Wooyoung, sticking out his tongue. 

“You’re mean,” pouted Mingi. “And here I was just coming to tell you that the sun is about to rise. I figured you might not be paying attention if you hadn’t come down by now.” 

Wooyoung groaned. “Stupid sun.” 

“I know, such a shame to interrupt this romantic moment,” commented Mingi. 

“Shut up and go cuddle Yunho,” said Wooyoung, launching his other shoe at Mingi, who quickly dodged it. 

“We do not cuddle!” he shouted in protest. 

“Sure you don’t.” 

“Whatever. Burn to a crisp for all I care. I’m sure San would love to comfort Yeosang when you die,” responded Mingi, sticking his tongue out at Wooyoung before quickly descending the ropes. 

“He’s so annoying,” groaned Wooyoung. Yeosang giggled, and Wooyoung turned to glare at him. 

“You guys are funny. But he’s right, we should go. I don’t think I want you to burn into a crisp just yet.” 

Wooyoung groaned again. “But I don’t wanna move,” he whined. 

“Mingi’s right then, I’ll just have to turn to San to comfort me in your death.” 

“No!” said Wooyoung, rolling over and wrapping his arms around Yeosang’s waist, holding him in place. “You’re mine,” he mumbled into Yeosang’s waist. 

Yeosang blushed again. 

“Come on, you’re sleepy and talking nonsense.” 

“Am I though?” said the other, lifting his face and arching an eyebrow at Yeosang. 

“I... I don’t know,” responded Yeosang softly. Wooyoung studied his face for a moment, before quickly standing up. 

“What the _fuck_ are you doing? You’re going to fall off and die!” said Yeosang, grabbing onto the side of the nest as if him holding on tighter would make it so Wooyoung didn’t fall off. 

“Wanna see something cool?” asked Wooyoung with a mischievous smile. 

“Honestly I really don’t think s-” his statement was cut off by a yelp as he felt himself leave the ground, Wooyoung having scooped him up and leapt out of the crow’s nest. 

Yeosang screamed, shutting his eyes and clinging to Wooyoung. Even after feeling his feet hit solid ground he refused to let go. 

“What the hell was that?!” he shouted into Wooyoung’s shoulder. 

“I figured it was the easiest way to get you down so that you didn’t have to climb.” 

“You couldn’t have warned me?” 

“I knew you’d say no if I asked,” Wooyoung said with a shrug. 

“I hate you.” 

“Sure.” 

After a moment of calming his racing heart, Yeosang let go and quickly marched away towards their room, purposefully not looking at Wooyoung, while Wooyoung followed behind with a chuckle. 

Once they reached their room, however, Wooyoung stood by the doorway even after Yeosang entered. 

“What are you doing?” asked Yeosang. 

“Um, I’ll just be going to San’s room then. You need to sleep,” said Wooyoung awkwardly. 

“So do you,” argued Yeosang. 

“I’ll come back after you wake up. Or just sleep in San’s room. You have to be up in a few hours.” 

“Doesn’t San need to sleep?” 

“San sleeps through anything, he’ll probably pass out as soon as I come in.” 

“So if he passes out where will you sleep?” 

“We can share a bed.” 

Yeosang felt like his veins filled with ice. It wasn’t something he’d experienced before, and he didn’t know how to explain it. 

“Fine,” he said. “Goodnight then.” He shut the door without waiting for a response and marched over to the bed, face planting into it with a huff. 

“Good night,” he heard Wooyoung say softly through the door. 

Yeosang immediately felt guilty. Why did he act like that? Stupid. There was nothing wrong with Wooyoung going to sleep in San’s room instead. In fact, it was a nice gesture. He didn’t want to make Yeosang uncomfortable by trying to sleep in the same bed. 

Oh god. Yeosang had basically invited Wooyoung to sleep in the bed with him. Isn’t that something only couples did? But then if Wooyoung was willing to share with San… 

Yeosang suddenly felt a heavy sadness wash over him. Were they together? 

But Yeosang was pretty sure Wooyoung was flirting with him. Not that Yeosang had any experience in love. The girls who flirted with him at the tavern were immediately shut down by his mother. He’d never had a man flirt with him before. Not to his knowledge at least. Maybe they had, but the Yeosang at the time didn’t even entertain the idea that it was possible for a man to flirt with another man. 

Yeosang knew he was embarrassingly innocent. He really didn’t know anything about two people being in a relationship, men or women. Of course, he knew about sex at least, he’d read about it before. But it was in a medical book about reproduction. He knew nothing about sex between two men, if that was even possible. 

The people who passed through his mother’s tavern would never even dream of talking about sex between two men. Anything about those kinds of relationships was said in hushed whispers or was a harsh criticism. 

All Yeosang knew was that the idea of kissing another man didn’t seem to bother him as much as it should. 

Especially not when he thought about Wooyoung. 

Yeosang groaned into his pillow. What was he thinking? He’d barely known Wooyoung for a week, and he was a vampire for heaven’s sake. And possibly in a relationship. 

He flipped over onto his back with a sigh, situating himself under the covers. 

He needed to sleep, Seonghwa was expecting him in just a few hours. He could think about love another time. 

However, he knew he wouldn’t be getting any sleep the second he closed his eyes and his thoughts were filled with strong arms and high-pitched laughter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that I made a separate twitter to talk about my writing!! @Dazzling_Sang


	6. Vampires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good evening friends it's 2am and I currently exist only in the caffeine dimension I just spent over 12 hours straight writing a research paper what up
> 
> peep that soulmates tag that has been there the whole time just sayin
> 
> anyways I'm not??? 100% happy with this chapter but again that's the whole fic tbh since I exclusively write this when I have writer's block on allsmn
> 
> this is entirely unbetad I am just saying yolo and posting yehet

The next few days saw Yeosang back in his usual rhythm, except now his evenings were spent on the deck with Wooyoung and the rest of the night crew. 

After hours of  hanging out and seeing him yawn four times in a row, Wooyoung would send him off to their room where Yeosang would then stay up another few hours translating the book on enchantments. 

He slept less and less every night, but if Seonghwa noticed he didn’t comment on it. 

Three days after what Yeosang had dubbed The Crow’s Nest Incident, they docked at a new port. 

Yeosang and Seonghwa headed to the market, as Yeosang was determined to find a few items they could keep on board that were useful but could also counteract enchantments in case of an emergency again. 

After Yeosang’s  seventh yawn, Seonghwa let out a noise of frustration. 

“What’s up with you?” he asked. Yeosang smiled sheepishly. 

“Sorry. I’ve been staying on the deck a bit with Wooyoung and the others and then staying up late translating that book on enchantments.” 

“Hmm, I thought so,” responded Seonghwa. “You need more sleep.” 

“I’ll try.” 

Seonghwa shook his head. “No, you do. I’ll handle lunch from now on.” 

“ No I can do it! Lunch is my job, that’s not fair to you. ”

“I don’t need sleep, Yeosang. ” 

“ I have to get up anyways so that Wooyoung can sleep, though.” 

“I don’t think Wooyoung will mind giving up his bed. He’ll just go to San’s room.” 

Yeosang felt that strange feeling again. Like ice trickling through his veins. 

“Right. San’s room.” 

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Is someone jealous?” 

“What? No !” 

“Hmm,” Seonghwa hummed in response, but didn’t press the subject.

Yeosang looked around the market as they passed various stalls, until something in particular caught his eye. He stopped, eyeing the table warily.  It was  covered in jars of different colored liquids. The girl running the stall had hair of a brilliant emerald color.

“What are you looking at?” asked Seonghwa. 

“Is this how  Wooyoung and Mingi did that to their hair? Theirs isn’t natural, right?” 

“Huh?  D id you want to dye yours ?” 

Yeosang shook his head . “I don’t think I could do anything like that ,” he responded , shyly bringing a hand up to his golden locks. 

“ You’ve never dyed  your hair  before?” asked Seonghwa, confused. 

Yeosang shook his head again. 

“Really? But that color isn’t natural for where you’re from.  Most people have black hair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with golden hair even in the surrounding kingdoms.” 

“My mother’s was black, but mine’s always been this color,” said Yeosang quietly. 

Seonghwa looked puzzled, but didn’t seem keen on continuing the subject and soon led Yeosang away from the dye stall. 

The two peacefully went about their day in the market, picking up supplies for the ship until Seonghwa informed Yeosang that they had one last special stop to make.

It turned out to be a book shop. But not just any book shop, a magic book shop. 

“Hongjoong thinks it would be beneficial for you to study more about vampires and enchantments in case another situation like the enchanted sword comes up again. Of course, books on vampires may not be entirely accurate, but  there’s a lot of things that are hard for Wooyoung to share and it can be quite difficult to get him to  focus on one subject for that long.  You can read and ask him anything you’re unsure about.” 

Yeosang nodded. Right, Wooyoung was almost 600 years old. He had to have all kinds of knowledge about the world.  Yeosang wondered how old the rest of the crew was, and whether they knew Wooyoung was human once. It didn’t seem to be a heavily guarded secret. 

Yeosang cleared his throat. “Wooyoung told me…. He told me he was human before,” said Yeosang simply. 

“That’s right.  It’s rare, but possible.  If you asked, he might tell you about it, but from what I’ve gathered the process is extremely painful and traumatizing. There’s a lot about Wooyoung’s life that he doesn’t share , and we don’t force him to.  If you want to know, it’s best to ask him yourself.” 

“How long have you all been together?” 

“ Not long. It was just Hongjoong and I for a long time. The rest came all together  around 50 years ago  except for Jongho , who is actually a very recent addition. I don’t know the details,  but I know that San, Mingi, and Yunho are from the same clan.” 

“There are vampire clans?” 

Seonghwa pursed his lips. “It’s really better if you ask Wooyoung about all of this.” 

At that moment, they entered the dark shop and the shopkeeper immediately noticed them. 

“Good afternoon, what can I do for ye, lads?”  she asked, looking directly at Yeosang. 

“ We need quite a bit, but we can find it ourselves, thank you,” responded Seonghwa. 

The old woman didn’t take her eyes  off Yeosang . He felt himself growing uncomfortable under her gaze, beginning to fidget and flickering his eyes around the shop. She hummed. 

“Books on spells and enchantments are to the left, books on vampire lore are in the back.  Enchantment supplies are up the stairs,” she said frankly, before turning on her heel and disappearing into the stacks. 

“How did she know what we’re looking for?” asked Yeosang, trailing behind Seonghwa who had immediately headed for the back section.

“She’s probably a witch. Or  sometimes I’ve found that little old ladies just have  really good intuition,” replied Seonghwa. 

Yeosang was still confused, but didn’t argue as Seonghwa began to hand him books from off the shelves as they moved about the shop. 

“You can read this, right?” asked Seonghwa, holding up a book in  the  folk  language of the neighboring kingdom. 

“Umm,” responded Yeosang warily. It was true he’d learned a bit from passing travels, but  he wasn’t sure he could read a whole book. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” responded Seonghwa, adding it to the pile. 

Yeosang ended up with six books. Two on enchantments, one on  counterspells , and three on vampire lore. 

“Now where did that old woman go?” asked Seonghwa absentmindedly, looking around the shop as if he would be able to see the tiny woman among the massive bookshelves. 

“I’m here,” came the old woman’s voice, startling both of them.  She eyed the books in Yeosang’s arms. “Four silver,” she said to Seonghwa.  He handed her the money. “Thank you for your business.” 

Seonghwa nodded before taking the books from Yeosang’s arm s and exiting the shop. Before Yeosang could follow, the woman grabbed ahold of his arm with a bony hand. 

“I have one more for you,” she said, shoving another large and heavy but unmarked book into his arms.  “A gift.” 

Before Yeosang could respond, she shoved him out the door. 

Blinking in the  sudden bright sunlight, he spotted a confused Seonghwa up ahead, who had seemingly just realized Yeosang wasn’t behind him.

“What did she give you?” he asked after Yeosang caught up. 

“I’m not sure,” he responded. “Another book.” 

Seonghwa hummed in response. “Be careful,  witches can’t be trusted. Whatever she gave you, there was a reason for it.” 

Yeosang nodded in response, the book feeling heavy in his arms as they headed back to the ship. 

The sun had set by the time they arrived, and Yeosang was slightly disappointed to find his room empty. 

Sighing, he put his new books on his dresser, taking only the mysterious, unmarked one to the bed with him. 

The cover was unassuming. It was bound in simple blue cloth and looked to be almost 600 pages. Yeosang thought of Seonghwa’s warning. Should he even look inside? If he looked inside would anything happen to him? He didn’t know much about magic, but books could be cursed, right? 

Sigh ing again, he finally decided to just open it. Taking a deep breath, he flipped open the cover.

_ “ _ _ Prophecy _ _.” _ __

The word glared at him in big, gold letters. 

What the hell? 

The word stared up at him from the page, mocking him. 

Now, Yeosang believed in a lot of things. He was a man of science but also a man of curiosity, and often believed that things could easily exist until it was proven that they didn’t. 

The romantic in him believed in fate of course. He wanted to believe that things in life happen for a reason. That all of the events in his life were leading up to something (and maybe that there was someone out there he was meant to be with). But he also believed that one’s choices shaped their fate. That’s why Yeosang always trusted his gut feelings to make choices for him, rather than trying to overthink them. 

Prophecy though, the idea of someone being able to tell the future, was a bit of a stretch for his beliefs. Since he didn’t believe fate was entirely set in stone, it was hard to believe someone could tell the future.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to close the book.

He had to admit he was curious. A book on prophecy? He had thought, according to legends, that prophecy was a gift, not something one could learn. He was very curious about the contents of this book. For the sake of learning, he told himself. 

And so, he turned the page.  And then again. And again. 

Yeosang had been correct in his original assumption. Prophecy was a gift one was born with, not something that could be learned.  Therefore , the book focused on how to interpret prophecy.  Yeosang quickly learned that most prophecies were cryptic and often incomplete, and thus interpreting them was a  skill in itself . 

But the book also explained how the gift of Prophecy manifested in many ways. Some had visions, others just had feelings. Some saw the future clearly, others didn’t. It seemed like the “gift” of prophecy mostly just caused those people problems.

But again, he was curious.

And so Yeosang read. He read until  his vision began to blur and his eyelids began to droop, finally succumbing to sleep. 

He had a strange dream that night.  However, when he woke up in the morning all Yeosang could remember was green meadows and a golden - haired man smiling down at him. 

~*~

Yeosang  barely saw Wooyoung for the next few days. 

Instead of spending his usual time on the deck, after dinner he would head straight to his room to pore over his books.

Tonight, however, he decided to finally brave a look at the books on vampires.

He was fascinated. The first book was seemingly an overview on vampire culture. Yeosang hadn’t even been aware that vampires  _ had  _ a culture. From what he had heard, they were basically mindless, bloodthirsty beings. Although, clearly the crew of the ship had already proved that assumption wrong. 

_ “Contrary to popular belief, vampires are not a creature of the living dead. With an anatomy much like humans, vampires have a beating heart, although they do not require the intake of oxygen from the air to survive. Their supply of oxygen is retrieved from the blood they drink. Vampires do not require  _ _ other  _ _ sustenance, but may ingest food if they so desire without consequence.”  _

_ “The vampire is not an immortal being. Those who are born a vampire will age, though at a much slower rate than humans. According to legend, the oldest vampire ever recorded lived to be one thousand  _ _ eight hundred  _ _ and sixty-three before he died of old age. A vampire can be killed as any normal human, but due to their healing capabilities it is practically impossible to do enough damage before they heal themselves. Along with their healing capabilities, vampires have heightened strength, speed, and senses, making them seem indestructible to a normal human _ _. Their only true weakness is the sunlight.”  _

_ “Vampires live in clans. Within each clan there is a hierarchy of prominent families. The heads of the clans together form the vampire council, which is the decision-making body of their kind. The vampire council has only convened once in written history.” _

Yeosang frowned. The book gave no further information on why the council had convened. Maybe that was something he would have to ask Wooyoung. 

_ “The bite of a vampire is very painful for humans. However, that pain is often over quickly for the human. After a few minutes, the bite of a vampire will place one into a trance-like state in which they can no longer feel the pain, even if their body is reacting to it. This trance-like state is  _ _ seemingly _ _ impossible to break out of once placed under it, though results are inconclusive as humans who have encountered this state have never lived to tell the tale.” _

Yeosang shuddered, remembering Wooyoung’s words the night he had met the rest of the crew. The situation the book described was all too familiar. 

He shut the book, feeling overwhelmed. Apparently, he’d almost been killed that night. It still didn’t explain Wooyoung’s weird protectiveness of him, since the two had barely even met, but Yeosang didn’t want to dwell on that right now. 

He had enough on his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he continued.

_ “Vampires are loyal creatures. Both born vampires and humans turned vampire  _ _ have the opportunity to _ _ take a mate.  _ _ Similar to _ _ human marriage, this is considered a lifelong bond, but is rooted in magical properties. Different from the mate of a werewolf, vampire mating does not require a physical bite or  _ _ mark but _ _ is instead formed through magical ritual. According to legend, every vampire has a true mate, but there are very few recorded cases. A vampire can often identify their true mate from the moment they meet, and the two will feel a strong pull to each other, as well as heightened awareness of the other. In some cases, it is said the two can even feel each other’s distress. The existence of such true mates is unconfirmed, and most vampires treat mating as a more permanent form of the human marriage.” _

He shut the book again. That was too much. From werewolves to  _ soulmates _ , it seemed everything that humans dismissed might actually exist. 

He quickly got up from the bed, opting to go outside and clear his head in the fresh air. 

Opening the large double doors to the main deck, he found it to be eerily quiet, similar to his first night on the ship. 

It was a windy night, making the waters a bit less calm than usual but not enough to be uncomfortable, and Yeosang felt the cool air hitting his face. He headed to the railing and leaned against it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 

He shivered a bit, wishing he’d grabbed a coat. Winter was approaching, and Yeosang wondered if they would be  traveling south to avoid icy waters. He didn’t know much about sailing, but didn’t think most ships were equipped to sail around icebergs. 

He stood with his eyes closed for a few minutes, enjoying the peace. He heard soft rustlings around him, some from the upper deck, and soft murmuring from the kitchen area. He knew the others had to tire at some point, but it was still strange to be on the deck without Wooyoung’s screeching laughter or Yunho and San yelling at each other. 

Suddenly, the boat jolted as they hit a larger wave. Yeosang lost his balance. He felt himself teeter over the edge of  the railing, snapping his eyes open and letting out a shout as he felt his feet leave the solid wood of the deck. 

For a moment, all he could see was the dark abyss of the waves below before an arm wrapped around his waist and he was pulled backwards, tumbling onto the deck on top of another body. 

“Are you an idiot?” came Wooyoung’s voice with a groan. “How many times do I need to save you from falling off the deck?” 

“If I recall correctly, the last time was because of you in the first place,” retorted Yeosang. 

“You need to be more careful, you can’t swim and the waters are restless tonight.” 

“I was restless too,” mumbled Yeosang, moving off of Wooyoung and sitting on top of the cool wood of the deck. 

Wooyoung furrowed his brow in worry. “What’s on your mind?” he asked. 

“Just realizing how truly little of the world I know.” 

Wooyoung hummed in response. 

“And,” Yeosang continued softly. “How little about vampires.” 

“You’ve been reading books on vampires,” said Wooyoung, looking him straight in the eye. 

Yeosang nodded slowly. 

“I see,” responded Wooyoung quietly. “You can ask me you know.” 

“Ask you what?” said Yeosang, gulping down his nerves. 

“Whatever it is that you’re dying to ask me.” 

Yeosang shivered. 

“There... there’s a few things actually,” he said. Wooyoung raised an eyebrow, but didn’t call out his obvious bluff. 

“Go on,” he said. 

“Vampire clans.” 

“What about them?” 

“Are they real?” 

“Well, yeah,” responded Wooyoung.

“But not every vampire is part of a clan, right?” 

“All born vampires are.” 

“But San, Mingi, Yunho, and Jongho aren’t?” 

“San, Mingi, and Yunho were born into the same clan, but they are defectors.” 

“Defectors?” 

“They left their clan.”

“You can do that? The way the book was describing it there seemed to be at least a familial bond, if not magical.” 

“You can, but it’s not pleasant. Like you assumed, there is a small magical bond between clans. And of course, the familial bond. Each clan is made up of a hierarchy of close-knit families. Leaving a clan is like betraying your family, and vampires don’t take kindly to betrayal.”

“But Mingi, San, and Yunho left.” 

“Yes.” 

“Why?” 

“It’s... complicated,” said Wooyoung, avoiding Yeosang’s eyes. Yeosang wanted to press, but could sense that maybe it wasn’t entirely Wooyoung’s story to tell. 

“The book said that the heads of each clan formed a fancy vampire council. Does this council make your laws then?” 

“Yes and no. Technically, the council has the power to govern all vampires, but it’s too hard to get the clans together. Think of it more like each clan is a kingdom. They have their own rules and laws. But when something threatens the vampire way of life overall, the council is there to intervene.” 

“The book said there’s only record of them ever convening once.” 

“Twice. Unless you count the actual formation of the council, which makes three.” 

“What did they have to convene for?” asked Yeosang curiously. Wooyoung avoided his eyes again. 

“It’s a long story, and both times are kind of interrelated to each other.” 

Yeosang was curious, but once again Wooyoung didn’t seem keen to share the story tonight. 

“Were you alive?” asked Yeosang softly. Finally, Wooyoung looked him in the eye again. 

“Yes,” he responded just as softly. 

Yeosang swallowed, nodding. If the council had only convened twice, it must have been for very serious matters. And if Wooyoung was alive both times the council convened, then he must have lived through some very serious matters. 

“Anything else you want to know?” asked Wooyoung. Yeosang cleared his throat shyly. 

“Vampire trances,” he said, avoiding Wooyoung’s gaze. 

Wooyoung waited for him to continue.

“How close was I to dying that night?” he whispered, voice barely rising above the sound of the wind.

“I wouldn’t have let you die,” responded Wooyoung immediately, tone so serious that Yeosang whipped his head up to meet his eyes. 

“But you said that San almost put me in a trance, isn’t that impossible to break?” 

“I would have found a way.” 

Yeosang stared at him, and Wooyoung looked directly back at him, gaze unwavering and voice determined. 

Yeosang felt himself flush and cleared his throat again, nodding awkwardly. 

“Now, can we finally get to what you really want to ask me?” asked Wooyoung, cheeky tone returning to his voice. 

Yeosang blushed even deeper, if that was possible. 

“The book mentioned... true mates.” 

Wooyoung’s facial expression didn’t change. He nodded slightly to ask Yeosang to continue. 

“Are they real?” 

“They’re a legend even amongst vampires. They're kind of like the vampire version of a happy ending bedtime story. Where humans tell stories of a young, mistreated housemaid being whisked away by a handsome prince, vampires tell stories of finding your true mate. San believes in them. Acc ording to legend, humans have a true mate too, but since they don’t have our heightened senses it would be impossible to find them.” 

“We call it a soulmate. But you’re right, in human legends there’s no way to identify who they are.” 

“Hmm,” hummed Wooyoung. “Those legends weren’t around when I was a human.” 

“So, do you think then,” began Yeosang, taking a long pause. Wooyoung waited for him to continue silently. “Do you think that vampires and humans can be true mates? If they exist for every living being. And what about humans turned vampire? Would your true mate be a human or a vampire?” 

“I supposed that depends on how much you believe in fate. If I was meant to become a vampire, then likely my true mate is a vampire, wouldn’t you think?” 

“Oh, I suppose,” said Yeosang, his  curiosity suddenly deflating. Right, a vampire should have a vampire mate. 

“However, I’m not really one to believe in fate. Or, maybe I’m destined to unite the human and vampire world through the power of true love, so then my  true mate would be a human,” said Wooyoung, giving Yeosang a cheeky grin. 

Yeosang rolled his eyes, but felt the blush rising to his face again. 

“Don’t think so highly of yourself,” he retorted. 

Suddenly, he stifled a yawn .

“You should get to sleep,” said Wooyoung, standing up and reaching out a hand to help Yeosang. 

Yeosang nodded. He was quite tired. Talking to Wooyoung had helped ease some of the pressure he was feeling, despite many of Wooyoung’s answers only raising more questions. 

Wooyoung walked him back to their room, leaving him at the door as always. 

Yeosang had a lot to think  about, but the sweet lull of sleep was calling him for once. 

He was, however, sure of two things. 

One, soulmates were real.

Two, Jung Wooyoung might be his soulmate. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super active rn cuz I have Too Many Research Papers but I did make a writing twitter @Dazzling_Sang


	7. Nightmares and Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is like??? kinda boring filler mostly but has some details important to the story idk

When Yeosang woke up, he panicked. 

_Jung Wooyoung might be my soulmate._

When he thought about it, it was the only thing that would make his entire experience on this ship make sense. 

First, how had Wooyoung found him in the first place? He lived in a small town on a basically unknown island. His village was being attacked by vampires and Wooyoung’s crew had docked where there was a visible fight and he had run through at least a hundred other injured and screaming people to get to Yeosang, who was in a dark house making no noise. If, as the book said, vampires could feel the distress of their mate, then that would be a perfect explanation. Wooyoung could feel Yeosang’s distress and came to save him. 

Second, Wooyoung’s weird over-protectiveness. The first night, Wooyoung saved him and risked exposing himself. Then, he insisted Yeosang sleep in his room instead of in the bunker with a bunch of other men. When San needed to bite him, Wooyoung wasn’t exactly very happy about it. 

Third, all of the weird comments from the other crew members. Even before he had met Wooyoung, Seonghwa had mentioned him when Hyunwoo tried to flirt. Seonghwa had said he had a feeling Yeosang would become night crew, and also that he had a feeling that Yeosang was meant to be a part of their crew. That, and the other members’ constant teasing pretty much pointed to the fact that they knew something Yeosang didn’t. 

Yeosang wasn’t stupid, he’d been noticing everything and storing it for later, waiting for the pieces to fall into place. 

And now, all of the pieces had fallen into place. 

What worried Yeosang the most, however, was how much it didn’t bother him. 

Yeosang knew that, soulmate or not, he was already in love with Wooyoung. 

~*~ 

Yeosang's life once again fell into a routine. He would wake up, help Seonghwa clean up lunch as he always missed the preparation, prepare dinner, stay on the deck with Wooyoung and the night crew, and then retire to his room to read late into the night. Sometimes he would deal with minor injuries of the day crew, which often entailed being woken up early and taken bleary eyed to the infirmary and then being roped into helping with lunch. 

After the sun had set, Yeosang would often ask Wooyoung and the others questions about things he’d learnt the night before. 

He learned a lot about vampire clans, since Mingi, San, and Yunho were very knowledgeable on the subject. San was actually from a prominent family in the clan they had grown up in. Mingi had been orphaned by vampire hunters at an early age and raised by Yunho’s family, who were employees of San’s family. Thus, the three boys had spent their childhoods together. 

Their life seemed incredibly mundane, apart from the fact that they were vampires. 

They always skirted around the subject of why they deserted their clan, but Yeosang didn’t want to push. He knew one of them would tell him when they were ready. 

Jongho was still a bit of a mystery. Yeosang knew he was the youngest, but that was about it. No one really talked about his life before the crew, and while there was no obvious avoidance of the subject it was never brought up and Yeosang didn’t really have the courage to ask. 

Nevertheless, he was beginning to feel like he’s found his place among the night crew. Almost like a family. 

Yeosang’s routine was broken a few weeks later on a stormy night. It was fitting, the turbulent waters seemed to reflect Yeosang’s mind. 

Distantly, he was aware of the tumultuous crashes of angry waves against the side of the ship, the boat creaking as it rocked. 

But Yeosang almost wished he was out in the storm. 

Instead, he was stuck in a nightmare. 

While the waves crashed around the boat in real life, waves crashed around Yeosang in his dream. 

_He was being held under._ _Huge, rough hands were pushing his entire body down beneath the waves_ _, grip tight on his golden locks._

_Just when Yeosang felt he couldn’t take it anymore, the hand_ _dragged_ _him up by the hair until he broke the surface and gasped for breath, seeing a nasty, toothy grin and feeling the man’s hot breath on his face._

_"Had enough yet_ _, boy_ _?"_ _the man asked in a_ _raspy_ _voice._

_Yeosang couldn’t even answer, his throat raw from swallowing gallons of salt water_ _._

_It was raining around them, Yeosang recognizing his surroundings as a beach. A few indistinguishable men stood in the distance, watching._

_Yeosang’s head was pushed under again._

_And again, just before his body gave up struggling, he was lifted._

_"Tell me! Why does_ _Jin_ _want you dead so badly_ _? 1000 gold pieces is a mighty high price for_ _a ten year old boy."_

_Yeosang coughed_ _, feeling the muscles in his chest constrict as he pushed water back out of his lungs and into the man’s face._

_The man threw him aside into the sand with a disgusted yell._

_“I was hoping I could get something out of you, but it seems I was too harsh. Oh well, can’t exactly complain about 1000 gold pieces,” the man said, smiling as he pulled a knife from his belt._

_Yeosang screamed just as the knife_ _came towards his chest._

“Yeosang!” 

Yeosang awoke abruptly, thrashing about as two hands held him against the bed by his upper arms. 

“Yeosang! Calm down!” came a familiar voice. 

Yeosang stopped his thrashing. 

“Wooyoung?” he said softly, biting back tears. He opened his eyes slowly, quickly finding Wooyoung’s face staring back at him in worry, the light from the oil lamp above them creating a halo around him even as it swung back and forth with the waves. 

“Shh, it’s me,” he said softly, relaxing his hold as Yeosang’s body slumped back into the bed. “You were having a nightmare.” 

Yeosang gulped, shivering as a wide, toothy grin flashed in his mind. 

Wooyoung began to lean back off the bed, hands leaving Yeosang’s arms before Yeosang’s hand shot out to grab him. 

“Don’t leave,” he said, voice watery. 

“I won’t,” he said. “I’m just going to get the chair so I can sit.” 

Yeosang shook his head, biting his lip as tears continued to shine in his eyes. 

“Just stay,” he said, tugging on Wooyoung’s arm. Wooyoung eyed him before carefully climbing over him into the opposite side of the bed, all the while keeping an eye on his face for signs of discomfort. Immediately after he settled down, Yeosang buried his face in his chest. 

Feeling Wooyoung’s arms wrap around him tentatively, Yeosang let out a shaky breath. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” whispered Wooyoung. 

“I…. it felt so real,” mumbled Yeosang, voice muffled by the other’s chest. 

“Nightmares always do.” 

“No, I mean, I think it was real. I think it was a memory,” said Yeosang, leaning back a bit to look up at Wooyoung. 

“A memory?” Wooyoung looked down at him curiously. 

“From when I was a child.” 

“Something you forgot in the accident?” 

“I think…. I think it was the accident. Only it wasn’t an accident. I was… kidnapped and t-tortured,” Yeosang’s voice broke and his body began to shake with sobs as he remembered the sensation of water filling his lungs. Wooyoung quickly shushed him and pulled him back against his chest. 

“It’s over, they can’t hurt you now,” whispered Wooyoung, soothingly rubbing his hand up and down Yeosang’s back. 

Yeosang didn’t respond, he simply cried until he had no tears left. 

~*~ 

Yeosang woke up feeling strange. 

For one, the bed felt weird. And his pillow felt harder than normal. He was warmer than normal. And, his pillow was moving. 

Yeosang’s eyes snapped open and he froze. 

Wooyoung. 

He felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment as memories of the previous night returned. 

He had a nightmare, Wooyoung came in, Yeosang had begged him to stay and promptly fallen asleep on top of him. 

And Wooyoung had stayed. 

He gently lifted his head. 

He’d never seen Wooyoung sleeping. He looked so peaceful, and so young. 

One question that plagued Yeosang’s mind was how Wooyoung looked so young. According to the books, vampires aged even if it was slowly. He’d confirmed this fact with them as well. So why did Wooyoung still look like he was in his twenties? He should at least look the age of Yeosang’s mother, if not older. 

He couldn’t bring himself to ask Wooyoung about it, worried it might make something awkward between them. Wooyoung tended to avoid personal questions, and Yeosang didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. At least that’s what he told himself. In reality, he just wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know. 

His thoughts were interrupted when he tried to shift his position and realized that one of Wooyoung’s arms was wrapped around his waist.   


It was then he remembered the way he’d thrown himself into Wooyoung’s arms last night. 

He felt his face flush, embarrassment bubbling hot in his chest. 

It had just been instinct. He was panicking from his nightmare, and his mind sought comfort in the person closest to him. 

A part of him knew that it wasn’t just because Wooyoung was near him at the time. Being around Wooyoung gave him a strange sense of calm. A sense of peace. It felt right. 

Besides, Wooyoung hadn’t seemed all that opposed to it anyways. 

Yeosang knew he needed to get up. If he didn’t show up by the time lunch was over, Seonghwa would come looking for him. If Seonghwa came looking for him and found the two of them like this… well, Yeosang could only imagine the endless teasing he would have to endure. 

Slowly, he began to extricate himself from Wooyoung’s hold, not wanting to wake the other up and be caught in such an embarrassing situation. 

Wooyoung shifted, smacking his lips in his sleep and shivering a bit from the sudden cold, but didn’t wake up. 

After getting off the bed, Yeosang tucked the blanket up higher on Wooyoung’s chest and took a moment to admire him. He really did find Wooyoung beautiful. His skin was a bit golden, which seemed kind of funny since he never went out in the sun, but Yeosang couldn’t help but love it. His sharp jawline and thick lips perfectly complemented each other. His eyes were closed right now, but Yeosang could imagine the deep chocolate brown orbs gazing at him warmly. 

He was snapped out of his daze once again when Wooyoung shifted. 

His face heated up again at having almost been caught staring, and he quickly freshened up and left the room without looking back at the bed. 

~*~ 

Yeosang didn’t see Wooyoung again that evening. After dinner when the sun had set, Yeosang quickly headed back to their room, far too embarrassed to face the other. 

He tried not to feel disappointed when the room was empty. 

Yeosang pushed down his feelings. He had a mission that night. 

As much as he wanted to forget his nightmare from the previous night, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more than just a nightmare. He’d been having a lot of weird dreams lately. Dreams in which he was a boy, surrounded by people and scenery he didn’t recognize.   


Luckily, he knew where he might look to find an answer about his dreams. 

He quickly went to his dresser, grabbing a thick, blue bound book.   


Prophecy. 

If there was a meaning to his dreams, he’d find it in this book. 

And so he scoured the pages. He read and he read and he read. 

He read through every mention of dreams he could find for hours. 

And came up with nothing. 

He grew frustrated. The book contained pages upon pages of dream analysis, dream symbols, and even prophetic dreams, but nothing on memories returning as dreams. 

Nothing. 

He felt the tears burn his eyes, and finally threw the book across the room in frustration, letting out a shout.   


He pulled his knees to his chest, burying his face in them and sobbing.   


What was wrong with him?   


Why was he having these dreams?   


Were they really memories or is he going crazy?   


The door to the room burst open.   


Wooyoung stood in the doorway, a worried look on his face.   


“I heard you shout, what happened?” 

Yeosang couldn’t even form an answer. He had barely begun to let out a small whimper before Wooyoung was there, arms wrapping around him. 

Wooyoung let him cry, simply holding him and comforting him. 

After he calmed down, he felt the embarrassment rush to his face. That made two nights in a row he was sobbing in Wooyoung’s arms. Wooyoung must think of him as some emotional child. 

“Feel better?” came Wooyoung’s voice. Yeosang nodded. He did feel a bit lighter, despite his embarrassment. “Good. Do you want to tell me what happened?” 

“I’m just…. frustrated,” began Yeosang. 

“Why?” 

“Last night…. that wasn’t the first time that’s happened.” 

“You’ve been having nightmares?” 

“No,” Yeosang shook his head. “Not nightmares. Mostly just dreams but… it’s like… somehow I know they’re not just dreams, they’re memories. But I can’t piece any of them together and none of it makes any sense. And why am I gaining my memories back now? Isn’t that kind of thing supposed to happen slowly? It seems like every night I’m having some sort of dream about my past. Am I actually gaining back my memories or am I just going crazy? I thought that stupid prophecy book the old lady gave me might have some answers, but there’s nothing. I don’t know what to do, I feel like I’m going to burst.” 

“Hmm,” pondered Wooyoung. “I don’t know much about regaining memories. I don’t think you’re going crazy though. Have you tried writing down what happens in your dreams? Maybe going back over them can help trigger something.” 

“That might work… I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m missing something. And something doesn’t make sense. It would help if I could just remember whatever accident it was that caused me to forget my memories. If it was some kind of head trauma, then my memories might come back all at once or slowly but not in these vivid dreams. And if I was repressing them due to mental trauma, something must have triggered my brain to stop repressing them. But what could have triggered it?” 

“You suffered a pretty abrupt change of lifestyle, couldn’t that be a trigger?” 

“I suppose…” Yeosang trailed off. 

“Something else is bothering you,” stated Wooyoung.   


Yeosang sat up, removing himself from Wooyoung’s hold but not meeting his eyes. 

“It’s just… all of these memories,” he began. 

Wooyoung waited for him to continue. He took a deep breath. 

“Not a single one is of my mother.” 

The silence was heavy. One could have heard a pin drop. 

“Instead of my mother, there are others,” Yeosang continued. 

“A different woman?” 

“A woman… and a man. I can’t ever see their faces, but the man… I can tell he’s my father.” 

“So what are you saying?” asked Wooyoung carefully. 

“I think… my life is a lot more complicated than I thought it was.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the more I post this story the less confident I am about it. Not that I was confident in the first place, I know my writing tends to be rather abrupt, I don't drag things out so maybe people like that less. but it gets so much less reaction than allsmn.... oh well... I'll just keep posting


	8. Wooyoung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's time for some of Wooyoung's backstory!
> 
> It's long and I have a weird thing about long paragraphs so instead the formatting is a little different during his story to make it clear when Wooyoung is talking and Yeosang is reacting.

Yeosang decided that he should take a break from trying to work out his dreams and clear his head. So, he threw himself into his studies. 

He hadn’t seen Wooyoung since the morning after his breakdown two days ago. The vampire had stayed again. Yeosang didn’t know how it happened. He hadn’t cried again, but the two had just laid together in comfortable silence, and when Yeosang woke up the other was still there, again. 

Yeosang had no idea what it meant, but he knew it wasn’t good for his heart. 

And so, he did the only thing he knew how to do: he read. Tonight, he had finally finished his book on vampire culture and moved to vampire history. Of course, he knew this book was probably even less accurate than the previous book. This was also the one written in the language of the neighboring kingdom. 

He skimmed through the beginnings of vampire history, knowing it was just legends and that San or one of the others could tell a better version without him trying to read it in another language. 

Rather than being a linear history, the book told stories. It was written as biographies and legends of famous events and famous vampires from all over the world. Most were accompanied with a small drawing of the person, though Yeosang was sure those couldn’t be accurate. He skimmed through all the proper names of famous clan leaders, heroes, and villains. 

Some stories were pleasant, others were obviously not true. Some made him sick to his stomach from the terrible things the vampire had done. The stories were, of course, biased in favor of the vampire world, so when there was someone so bad even the vampires labelled him a monster Yeosang was inclined to skip the story. 

He was skimming through a story about Jin Xinyuan, a clan leader of the Jin Clan of the East, one of the most prominent clans in the vampire world, when he saw something that caught his attention. 

_“Jin_ _Xinyuan_ _was betrayed by his own legacy, Jung Wooyoung, the human he had taken in and granted the gift of vampire power. The human whom he had taken into his home and accepted into his clan. It was this betrayal that caused the downfall of the Jin clan, one of the most prominent clans in vampire history.”_

Yeosang felt his body freeze and his throat run dry. Jung Wooyoung. Human turned vampire. There was no way. 

He quickly skimmed the pages, searching for another biography, hoping it was there but at the same time hoping it wasn’t. 

When he found it, his blood ran cold. 

_“Jung Wooyoung, human turned, deserter of the Jin Clan of the East.”_

And right there, staring back at him, was a perfect drawing of Wooyoung. 

He dropped the book as though he’d been burned. 

He knew Wooyoung hid his past and probably had good reason. But to hide the fact that he had deserted one of the most prominent clans in all of vampire history and was apparently famous enough to make it into a history book? That seemed a bit dangerous. 

Yeosang didn’t know why but he felt angry. Angry that Wooyoung was keeping such a big secret. Angry that Wooyoung didn’t think to tell him that he was infamous in the vampire world. 

That anger boiled until it bubbled over. Yeosang threw himself off the bed and hurried to the deck, bringing the book with him. It didn’t take him long to locate Wooyoung, who was laying on the deck near the front of the ship, stargazing. 

“What the fuck is this?” said Yeosang icily, dropping the book directly onto Wooyoung’s stomach, open to the page of his biography. 

Wooyoung sat up quickly, confused, before spotting the picture on the page. His expression turned stony. 

“How much did you read?” 

“Not much. Just that you betrayed someone called Jin Xinyuan, who happened to be the one who turned you, and caused the downfall of a clan that had accepted you as one of them.” 

Wooyoung kept a blank expression. 

“There’s a lot more to the story,” he said. 

“Well then you need to tell me right now, otherwise I’m going to believe whatever that book says.” 

“It’s long.” 

“I’ve got time.” 

Wooyoung sighed before closing the book and handing it back to Yeosang. 

“Let’s go back to the room, you’ll want to sit somewhere comfortable.” 

“Here is fine.” 

“I’d rather do this somewhere private, just in case.” 

“In case of what?” 

“In case of an unwanted audience. It’s not safe.” 

“Fine,” said Yeosang, turning to head back to their room. He didn’t look back to see if Wooyoung was following, although that was partly because Wooyoung was looking a little like a kicked puppy and Yeosang wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay angry at him. Even if he didn’t know why he was angry, he felt like he should be angry. 

After entering their room, Yeosang stood in the center, arms crossed, and watched as Wooyoung swiftly locked the door. 

He took a deep breath. 

“Much of what I’m about to tell you,” began Wooyoung, “is only known by myself and the captain. For the safety of the entire crew, it cannot leave this room.” 

Yeosang swallowed thickly. He nodded. 

“I suppose I should start from the beginning,” continued Wooyoung. 

“As you already know, I was born a human. Sometime in the early 1200s, we didn’t really keep track of the year or age much back then. Back then, vampires and humans.... coexisted. Not peacefully, but not the way we do now. Vampires were well known then. The humans would pay yearly tribute to their local vampire clans, and in return the vampires wouldn’t attack them. It seems harsh but back then that’s just the way the world worked. No one thought that humans could fight back. 

When I was around twenty years old, the local clan leader presiding over my village was killed in a deserter coup from within his own clan. They felt that he was too kind to us humans, too soft. After that it was chaos. The new clan leader demanded blood tributes, humans to be sent to him to be used as livestock to feed on whenever his vampires decided. Around a year or two later, he took my younger sister.” 

Yeosang tried to hide his shock, but Wooyoung wasn’t looking at him. He was gazing intently at the wall, seemingly lost in his memories. 

“It was then that I decided to fight back. I wasn’t a bad fighter back then. Naïve to think that I could possibly hold my own against an entire vampire clan, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was saving my sister. 

One night, I noticed a lone vampire in the village. I have no idea what he was doing there, but I saw it as the perfect opportunity to test my abilities. I jumped him. I managed to hold my own for a while, gaining the upper hand with an element of surprise, but it quickly became apparent that I was going to lose and going to die. And then I was saved. 

Jin Xinyuan was passing through the area when he’d heard rumors of a rogue vampire clan. One that went against the vampire’s code of conduct. He stumbled upon our fight during his investigation, watched, and then when it was clear I was going to lose stepped in to save me. 

After, he told me he would help me save my sister on one condition: if I left with him. I was naïve, I didn’t even consider the fact that he was a vampire. I didn’t question why he would even want a human. All that mattered was saving my sister, my village. So I agreed. 

Jin Xinyuan slaughtered the clan singlehandedly. There were no survivors, and it took him mere hours. Before I could even confirm if my sister was alive or not, he took me away. 

Then he turned me into a vampire. 

The funny thing about vampires is they have some convoluted code of conduct. And in that code of conduct, it was agreed that one could not turn a human without their express permission. But this code of conduct is unwritten. The rules aren’t specifically stated or sealed in writing; they are just followed. And because of this there are loopholes. 

Agreeing to leave with Jin Xinyuan was agreeing to seal my fate. 

It took me six years to recover from my transformation. For most, it takes longer, but as Jin predicted I was strong. 

Back then, most humans turned vampires ended up slaves. Like immortal glorified butlers or housekeepers. It was thought that humans should devote their immortal lives to the vampire that turned them as a way of thanks for the gift of eternal life. That’s not what Jin Xinyuan wanted me for. Essentially, I was his personal assassin. Trained to spy and kill. To the outside, Jin Xinyuan kept up a pretense of accepting me into his clan, claiming to onlookers that he would treat me as one of his own. He preached acceptance of those turned, claiming that the gift of long life shouldn’t belong to them alone. In reality, I was there to eliminate anyone who stood in his way. 

Because Jin Xinyuan knew one thing the rest of the vampire world didn’t: that those turned from humans are stronger. 

We’re faster, stronger, and we don’t age. We can’t be killed by weapons. Everything the humans truly feared about vampires was in fact really only applicable to humans turned. Jin Xinyuan wanted to use this to build an unstoppable army. 

Recruitment was another of my main duties. Recruiting other humans to volunteer to be turned. At the time, I had no idea of his plans. I thought I was doing good. Jin Xinyuan's clan treated humans turned as equals instead of as slaves. He told me those I was killing and spying on wanted us to be kept as slaves. I thought I was helping. 

I lived that way for almost a hundred years. I wasn’t dumb, I had quickly realized I was stronger. And by this point I was starting to grow suspicious as well. Every other clan seemed to detest Jin Xinyuan while at the same time fearing him. When I finally learned Jin’s real plan I realized what I had done. 

He planned to use his army to suppress the other clans and become leader of all vampires. And as leader of all vampires, he could easily rule over all humans as well. He never believed in the equality of those born a vampire and those turned, in fact he probably was the worst of them all. He planned to kill us after using us. 

I couldn’t just outright stop helping him, that was too dangerous. But I began to fail more often in my recruitment missions. And I began to plan in secret. I needed to get us all out of there. 

It didn’t take long for him to figure out what I was doing. Maybe he was just smart or maybe someone ratted me out, I don’t know. He didn’t try to kill me, to this day I have no idea why, but that was his greatest mistake. He locked me away but everything had already been set into motion. 

Rebellion broke out, and we almost won. I was face to face with Jin Xinyuan when the council interrupted. It was the first time they had convened since formation. Other clans had gotten wind of what he had been doing and set out to stop him, only to find a full-scale rebellion already being waged against him. 

I don’t know what happened to Jin. It became apparent upon their arrival and discovery of the rebellion that the council planned to leave no survivors. I left my friends behind and fled like a coward. 

After that the council sent out a kill-order on all turned vampires. To prevent something like this from ever happening again, it was no longer allowed to turn humans. Those who already existed were hunted down and slaughtered. 

I lived as a fugitive. I had become infamous in the vampire world, and there was a high price on my head. The council was terrified I would raise another army against them. 

I spent forty-eight years hiding among humans. I went by different names, took blood only when I needed to feed, moved from village to village when the people around me grew suspicious. 

And then the vampire hunters appeared. Somewhere, humans had begun to fight back against the vampires ruling over them, and their passion spread like wildfire. Vampires went into hiding to avoid being wiped out. Now I was being hunted by both worlds. 

I lived for two hundred years on the run. Constantly moving, living in the wilderness and surviving off of scraps. It took two hundred and four years for the council to find me again. I was captured by a group of clan leaders, who quickly called the council to convene for the second time in its history. They tortured me for days, I thought it would never end. 

But before we could meet the council, I was miraculously saved by a human. A young boy with golden hair who turned out to be the prince of the kingdom we were currently in. He gave his life to save mine. To this day, I still don’t know why and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank him or repay his family. 

Whatever his reason, I felt like I owed him something. Surely fate wouldn’t have had me live and that prince die simply so I could live my life hiding like a coward. From then on, I devoted my life to finding other turned vampires and helping them. The few of us that were still around were either fugitives in hiding or captured by clans and kept secret. I felt like my reason for living had been renewed. I owed it to these vampires to save them in repentance for abandoning my friends all those years ago. 

In one hundred and forty years, I managed to save around forty-six vampires. It seems like a small number, but I hope I made a difference. 

My superhero days were ended in a mission gone wrong. I was caught by the clan holding the vampire I was trying to save. I was lucky, though. The clan leader at the time had no idea who I was. He was new, only having been clan leader for around fifty years. He had murdered his father before him in a coup, and therefore hadn’t been told the council secrets. 

His name was Choi Junhyung. He was San’s father.” 

Yeosang couldn’t help the noise of surprise that left his mouth. He knew that at some point the others would come into the story, but never expected San to be the clan leader’s son. Now he understood why the others hesitated to tell him why they deserted. 

“Junhyung easily figured out that I was another human turned. Who else would try to save turned vampires? He couldn’t try to turn me into a slave though, he knew that wouldn’t work. Whereas the woman he held captive was meek and submissive, I knew my own strength. I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions, and it was clear I would fight back. He placed me in a cell and chained me to the walls. And then the interrogations began. 

I think he was desperate to prove that he belonged as a clan leader. He interrogated me about why I wanted to save that woman, whether I was working for someone or had any partners. He wanted information he could deliver the council to earn their respect. When I didn’t cooperate, the torture began. 

San stumbled upon my cell by accident. He was never really a fan of his father. He had always been close with his grandfather. Once he learned that his father had been keeping turned vampires it wasn’t hard to convince him to help me. I just wanted help escaping, I never intended for him to desert his clan. 

We quickly became friends. Originally, I had just planned to use him to get out, but I realized that I wouldn’t be able to leave without him. I had been on my own for too long and got attached to him too quickly. Eventually he brought Mingi and Yunho to meet me, and the four of us made a plan in secret. 

We didn’t tell Mingi and Yunho, but San was going to leave with me. They still don’t know that he was going to leave them behind. Of course, as with everything in my life the plan didn’t go exactly as we’d hoped. Mingi and Yunho were forced to leave with us. Another of my life’s greatest regrets, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make up for forcing them to leave their clan. 

We spent twenty-six years on the run together before we met Hongjoong and Seonghwa. They took us in, no questions asked. We’ve been living as pirates ever since.” 

Yeosang knew that wasn’t the whole story. It was an extremely condensed version of the whole story with some obvious key details missing. Hundreds of years of gaps in which Yeosang knew there was more to the story. But Yeosang would let it slide right now, he knew it must have been difficult to talk about. 

“The others don’t know about my past. It’s too dangerous for anyone to know. All they know is that I was something of a vigilante who went around saving other turned vampires. We don’t know what the council and other clan leaders know or if they’re even still looking for me, so it’s too dangerous for them to know more. Now that you know, you’re in more danger than you’ve ever been before,” Wooyoung continued, finally looking at Yeosang. 

“I can handle it,” said Yeosang immediately, staring unwaveringly back at Wooyoung. 

Wooyoung stared for a moment. “I know,” he whispered. 

There was silence between them, but it wasn’t awkward or tense. It was calm, maybe too relaxed for the story that had just been told. But Wooyoung seemed relieved to get it off his chest, and Yeosang was still absorbing everything he had learned. 

Absorbing the fact that Wooyoung’s entire life had been turned upside down only because he loved his sister too much. 

Finally, Yeosang spoke again, voice barely above a whisper. 

“Do you miss her?” he asked, needing no further elaboration. 

“Every day,” whispered Wooyoung in response. “I never got to see her again after Xinyuan took me away. I like to hope she and my parents were able to live long and happy lives without being terrorized by vampires. In my head I know it’s likely that if Xinyuan survived, he went back and killed them after I escaped. Either way, they’re long gone now.” 

“It’s better to think that they lived a good life. Your sister especially. They wouldn’t die so easily after you gave up everything so they could live.” 

“I’d like to think that, but none of them even knew what I was doing. I wasn’t exactly the best son when I was human. Kind of a useless lay about. My parents weren’t exactly fond of me. My sister was the only bright spot in my life.” 

There was a soft, bittersweet smile on Wooyoung’s face. After he’d finished his story, he’d sunk to the floor, back leaned against the door. 

“I always wanted a sibling,” said Yeosang from his perch on the bed. He didn’t know when he’d even sat down. “Growing up. I had to make do with the passing travelers in our inn. We didn’t get many other children though.” 

“Explains why you’re so weird,” said Wooyoung, cheeky smirk appearing. Yeosang threw a pillow at him, but Wooyoung caught it with ease. 

“Tell me about her,” said Yeosang. He watched as Wooyoung’s smirk dropped back into a soft, fond smile and his gaze seemed to once again move to a faraway place that Yeosang couldn’t reach. He didn’t mind though. As much as Yeosang found he liked Wooyoung’s attention, he would give it up any time to see the smile on Wooyoung’s face. 

“She was younger than me. Like I said before, we didn’t really keep track of age much back then. Maybe she was five or six years younger? She was going to be married before the vampires took over. She was beautiful, and she had the kindest heart of anyone I’ve ever known,” began Wooyoung. 

He continued for hours, telling anecdotes and stories from his childhood. About how often he’d get into trouble and how his sister was always there to save him, even though he was older. 

The whole night, he never lost that fond smile. And Yeosang couldn’t help but think he’d like it if that night lasted forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter and curious cat @Dazzling_Sang
> 
> that twitter is exclusively for me to talk about writing tho, if you want more of my general screaming about fandom stuff my personal twitter is linked through my carrd dazzlingsang.carrd.co (which also has descriptions of my wip pls talk about aus with me)
> 
> anyways comments ease my anxiety thanks


	9. Wanted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little bit of filler but marks a very important turning point in the story so hopefully it's not too boring

Yeosang was growing used to waking up on Wooyoung’s chest. However, instead of feeling embarrassed for once he smiled as he recalled the events of the night before. 

Despite the heavy topic of Wooyoung’s tragic past, he was filled with a warm fluttering feeling when he thought of how Wooyoung looked talking about his sister. It was clear he’d never talked about it before, never been able to. Being the only one Wooyoung had shared this with made Yeosang feel special. In his heart, he could even think that maybe he was the only one who had ever seen that fond smile on Wooyoung’s face. 

Yeosang smiled to himself, not moving from his spot on top of Wooyoung. Like the past two times, the other had one warm, strong arm around his waist. Yeosang let out a content sigh. He had no idea what time it was, they had stayed up incredibly late. Yeosang didn’t even remember when Wooyoung moved onto the bed with him. He knew it was entirely possible for Seonghwa to burst through the door looking for him any minute, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about their possibly compromising position. 

He felt warm, he felt safe, and he felt content. 

Not what one might normally feel when they found themselves in bed with a vampire who had turned hundreds of humans and served as a vampire hitman, but Yeosang had never really been normal. 

He felt the other shift beneath him and quickly snapped his eyes shut, not wanting the other to notice he was awake. 

He could feel as Wooyoung brought the arm not holding onto Yeosang up to rub his eyes, and then he felt his head move to look down at Yeosang before his whole body tensed. 

Right, Yeosang was usually gone before Wooyoung woke up. 

The other remained tense for a few minutes before he finally relaxed, tentatively bringing his other arm around Yeosang to pull him closer and taking a deep breath. 

Yeosang willed himself not to blush and give himself away. 

Wooyoung stayed in that position for what felt like hours but was likely only a few minutes. Yeosang swore his heart was going to beat out of his chest and prayed that Wooyoung couldn’t hear or feel it. 

Finally, the moment was broken. 

“Thank you,” whispered Wooyoung softly. Yeosang felt the barest brush of something on the top of his head before Wooyoung carefully pulled away. With gentle hands he held Yeosang in place as he slid out from underneath him. 

He heard the other shuffling about the room, probably getting ready for the day. Well, evening. Yeosang heard the dresser drawers open and willed himself not to blush again at the thought of Wooyoung changing his clothes in the same room. 

Gods, what was he turning into? He’d never thought about these things before. Never had anyone to think these thoughts about. He blamed it on the fact that he’d just been sleeping on Wooyoung’s strong chest and his shirts left little to the imagination in the first place. 

Wooyoung mumbled to himself as he went about getting ready. Yeosang found it cute. 

All too soon, the noises stopped and Yeosang felt a presence near the bed again. 

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, softly shaking him. 

“Yeosang,” he heard Wooyoung whisper. He slowly blinked his eyes open, trying to appear sleepy. 

“Wooyoung?” he asked, voice low and hoarse. 

“Wake up, sleepy,” said Wooyoung with a soft smile, immediately letting go of his shoulder. Yeosang almost frowned, but stopped himself. He took a good look at Wooyoung. Sure enough, the other had changed his clothes, though it seemed like he purposefully ruffled them to look like he’d been wearing them a while. Yeosang held back a smile. 

“It’s late, Seonghwa is probably going to come look for you any minute.” 

“How late?” he asked, sitting up and pretending to rub the sleep from his eyes as he yawned. If Wooyoung wanted to pretend they didn’t wake up together, then two could play at that game. 

“Almost time for dinner.” 

Yeosang shot up in shock. “What?!” 

He threw himself out of the bed, rushing to glance at his appearance in the mirror. 

“I can’t believe it’s so late! Why didn’t Seonghwa come wake me up?” 

Yeosang quickly ran a comb through his tangled hair, cringing at the imprint of Wooyoung’s shirt on his cheek. At least it looked like it could be from his pillow. He barely glanced in Wooyoung’s direction as he hurried out of the room. 

~*~ 

To say dinner preparation was torture would be an understatement. Yeosang had barged into the kitchen, clothes rumpled and panting from the speed at which he’d run. Seonghwa looked up from the pot he was stirring in surprise before a wicked smirk bloomed across his face. 

“Well, hello sleeping beauty,” he said, grin somehow growing. Yeosang gulped. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, hoping he sounded casual. He quickly moved to work beside Seonghwa. 

“Oh, it’s ok, I’m sure you had a late night last night.” 

“Um, yeah I suppose. I was up reading about vampire history.” Well, it wasn’t technically a lie. 

“Oh yes, I’m sure you got a lot of _reading_ done snuggled up against Wooyoung.” 

Yeosang dropped the pot he was holding with a loud clang, feeling his face grow hot. So Seonghwa _had_ come to wake him up. 

“We-we were just talking!” he said, attempting to pick up the pot, only to have it slip through his fingers once again. 

The smirk dropped from Seonghwa’s face. 

“Hey, hey, don’t be nervous,” he said softly, dropping to crouch next to Yeosang and putting a comforting hand on his back. “I was just teasing.” 

“S-sorry, I just,” began Yeosang, fiddling with his sleeves. He took a deep breath. “I haven’t really had much time to think about it,” he mumbled. 

“Think about what?” 

“ _Wooyoung.”_

“Ah,” responded Seonghwa softly. 

“Which is stupid, because somehow I think about him all the time.” 

This time Seonghwa looked at him with a soft smile. 

“Ah, young love.” 

“Wooyoung is older than you,” deadpanned Yeosang. 

“A technicality.” 

Yeosang sighed, staring at the floor. 

“I’m new at this. And there’s… a lot happening at once. I have more important things to focus on, but somehow all I can think about is him.” 

“That’s usually how love works.” 

“I don’t know much about love. Other things I can read about. There are facts, I can learn about them. Love is something you have to learn through experience. I don’t have any experience.” 

“I don’t think Wooyoung minds.” 

“But I mind. I don’t like… not knowing.” 

“Not knowing what?” 

“Not knowing what to expect,” said Yeosang with a sigh. He’d never put his feelings into words even to himself, but Seonghwa seemed to have this mysterious power to draw it out of him. 

“The excitement is usually what people like the most about love.” 

“I’m not exactly a usual person,” said Yeosang bitterly, finally standing up from where he was crouched on the floor, Seonghwa following. 

“You’re right, you’re definitely special,” replied Seonghwa. Yeosang startled. No one had ever called him special before. Usually they called him weird or strange. 

“You can take your time to figure things out,” continued Seonghwa. “Become more comfortable with things. Wooyoung will wait.” 

Yeosang nodded. 

“I know he will,” he said softly, turning his attention to the half-cooked dinner as he felt the tips of his ears turn red. 

Wooyoung would wait, but Yeosang knew he wouldn’t have to wait long. 

~*~ 

Later that night, Yeosang’s usual reading was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. 

“Come in,” he said, closing his book and sitting up on the bed. 

To his surprise, it was Wooyoung. 

“Wooyoung?” he asked. “Did you need something?” 

The other stood awkwardly in the doorway, shuffling his feet and not meeting Yeosang’s eyes. 

“Can you... can you read it to me?” 

“What?” asked Yeosang in confusion. 

“The book. The story. About me. Can you read it to me?” he said, finally looking up at Yeosang with nervous eyes. 

“You can just borrow the book if you want.” 

“I... I can’t read,” the other mumbled, looking at the floor again. 

“You can’t read?” Yeosang blinked in shock. 

“It’s not exactly like I had a lot of time to learn things while living as a fugitive in the wilderness,” grumbled Wooyoung. “Plus, isn’t that book in a different language?” 

Oh yeah, Yeosang had almost forgotten about that. It had been less difficult to read than he expected the night before. 

“Okay,” he said, getting up off the bed to put away the medical text he’d been reading and find the right book. 

“Okay?” Wooyoung repeated, looking at him in surprise. 

“Yeah, I mean, I haven’t read it yet either. I wasn’t sure you wanted me to.” 

“Oh... that’s nice of you,” said Wooyoung, awkwardly shifting on his feet until he finally moved to grab the chair by the desk. 

“Just sit on the bed,” said Yeosang, settling back into his spot. Yeosang could have sworn he saw the other blush (if vampires could blush), but he did as he was told. “This might take a while, since I will have to translate as I read, so you may as well be comfortable.” 

The other sat on the edge of the bed, putting as much distance between the two of them as possible. It made Yeosang a bit sad, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and opened the book, settling back against his pillows. 

He began to read. Yeosang had never really read out loud to anyone, and it was a little awkward having to translate as he went. But he found he liked it. He liked how Wooyoung’s entire attention was on him. He could feel the other’s gaze on his face and knew his own cheeks were tinted pink. 

It was a bit strange, reading about the other to him, but Wooyoung didn’t seem to mind. The book was biased of course, claiming all sorts of things. Wooyoung interjected when there were wrong facts and laughed when the book claimed that he was some sort of evil mastermind who tricked Jin Xinyuan into turning him so that he could overthrow the vampire way of life. 

“I couldn’t have cared less about the vampire way of life when I was human,” he chuckled. 

The tale focused on Wooyoung’s time with the Jin clan. Of course, Yeosang knew better than to believe everything that happened in the story, but there were times when he could feel Wooyoung tense beside him, as if worried that Yeosang was going to judge him. 

Yeosang would never judge him. Whatever had happened in his past, that was over 500 years ago. Yeosang cared about the Wooyoung now, and knew that whatever he had done before, the other never forgave himself. And so, Yeosang would forgive him for him. 

Wooyoung fell asleep before him for the first time, before they even finished the story. Yeosang quietly closed the book and set it aside, laying down beside him and staring at the other’s face. Yeosang decided that he liked the way Wooyoung looked in his sleep. He looked young and carefree, as if his five hundred years of troubles didn’t exist anymore. 

Yeosang found himself falling into a dreamless, comfortable sleep for the fourth time since he’d left his home. 

~*~ 

It had been a long while since they stopped at a port. They had travelled a long way and were somewhere far down south. Somewhere the waters were clear and blue and the air was filled with soft wind and the smell of flowers. 

Yeosang and Seonghwa were headed to the port to get supplies. The long journey had them dangerously low on some food and medicinal items, and, Seonghwa informed him, blood for their vampire crew. Seonghwa assured him that the others would be going later to pick up that supply though. Yeosang wondered to himself how often the others needed to feed and how they did it. He realized he had never seen any of them drinking blood other than the one time San drank from him to heal. He wondered if it would be inappropriate to ask them. 

As they went through their day under the light of the blazing sun, Yeosang felt himself growing warm. He had never experienced this kind of weather, and found himself needing to push up his sleeves and fan his face. While he enjoyed the sunshine, he was finding that he didn’t really like the burning feeling on his face that was coming with it. It was almost winter, yet it was hotter than he’d ever felt. 

“Sorry, I know you aren’t used to this weather,” came Seonghwa’s voice. “It’s dangerous to stay north in the winter though. Sometimes the water is icy underneath the surface where we can’t see. That’s why we travel south. Once you go far enough, the seasons change. Down here it’s summer, though even during their winter it doesn’t get much colder.” 

Yeosang couldn’t imagine living somewhere so hot. 

“Isn’t it hard for everyone else?” Yeosang wondered aloud, choosing his words carefully. “The sun is so bright, I’m sure the days are long.” 

Luckily Seonghwa understood his meaning. 

“They don’t mind it. It’s better than risking running into an iceberg.” 

“I suppose,” Yeosang responded, letting his voice trail off. He was distracted, looking around the market in amazement. Whereas the past few he’d gone to had been fairly similar to each other, this one was incredible. Stalls were covered in fruits and foods he’d never seen before. Clothing in styles he’d never even considered littered tables, all in bright colors. The jewelry contained assortments of seashells, flowers, and bright shiny pearls instead of the glittering rubies and diamonds he was used to seeing. People were shouting over each other in a language he didn’t understand. 

Seonghwa seemed to know exactly what he was doing, picking out all kinds of weird fruits and nuts. Yeosang let him do his thing, not even trying to comprehend what everything was. Maybe he’d be able to find a book on the native plants. 

Unfortunately, Seonghwa informed him that this island didn’t have very many books, and anything he could find likely wouldn’t be in a language he could understand, as such a remote island didn’t use the common language at all. Of course, Yeosang was upset by this news but he quickly brightened when Seonghwa led him over to one of the jewelry stalls. 

“Be careful not to get anything that Wooyoung might get for you,” snickered Seonghwa. Yeosang felt the heat rise to his face as he looked at the table. It was true, ever since that first port Yeosang had been finding new pieces of jewelry and trinkets on his dresser every morning after they stopped. It was pretty obvious that it was Wooyoung leaving them, but it was kind of an unspoken rule not to mention it around him. The others didn’t tease Wooyoung and Yeosang never asked him about it. 

However, because of the gifts Yeosang had never really stopped to pick his own jewelry. Not that he would ever ask to anyways. He didn’t always leave the ship when they stopped, and when he did it was only with Seonghwa to run errands. He couldn’t be selfish enough to ask to stop at the jewelry stalls. 

He looked over the table in front of him. He quickly identified the piece he liked the best; he was a simple man after all. Another leather choker, the string a dark brown. A single small pearl inlaid in gold hung from the center. 

He wanted it, but Seonghwa’s words had struck a chord with him. He decided to leave that one. He had absolutely loved everything Wooyoung picked out for him before, so this was a sort of test. 

He picked a second piece. A choker made of intricately woven blue beads. They melded together to look like ocean waves. He turned to Seonghwa with a smile. 

“This one,” he said. 

Seonghwa eyed the necklace in his hands before glancing at the table, a smirk growing on his face. 

“I see,” was all he said before making the purchase. 

It was late afternoon when they were lugging their heavy bags back to the ship and, as usual, something caught Yeosang’s curious eyes. A notice board, and one of the posts was looking eerily familiar. 

“Seonghwa,” he said, freezing in place. The other hummed in response but didn’t stop walking. 

“Seonghwa!” he called, sharper and a little more frantic. He dropped his bags as he hurried to the bulletin. Seonghwa followed behind him, concerned. 

He gulped as he confirmed what his eyes has seen from a distance. Right there, in the center of the board, was a poster. 

_“Wanted: Jung Wooyoung.”_

Heart racing, he ripped the poster off the board and brought it closer to his face. 

_“Wanted for: Kidnapping._

_Warning: Very Dangerous_

_Reward: 10,000 Gold Pieces”_

Yeosang felt his breath quicken as he looked at the perfect drawing of Wooyoung. 

“Yeosang,” came Seonghwa’s voice from behind him, almost a whisper. Yeosang ignored him, too focused on the poster. 

“Yeosang, look up,” came Seonghwa’s voice again, more insistently. 

The tone of Seonghwa’s voice was the only thing that managed to rip Yeosang’s focus from the poster of Wooyoung, and he looked back up at the bulletin. 

What he saw made his stomach churn and his blood run cold. 

There was another poster behind Wooyoung’s. 

“ _Missing: Kang Yeosang._

_Reward: 100,000 Gold Pieces.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments give authors motivation


	10. Missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter but when am I ever
> 
> I promise everything will make sense once yeosang regains his memories!! until then, I'd love to hear your theories??

_ “Missing: Kang Yeosang. _

_ Reward: 100,000 Gold Pieces” _

Yeosang felt his breath stop. The noises around him seemed to fall away, replaced by a soft buzzing. 

He stared back at the perfect drawing of himself. 

None of it made sense. His mother was dead, no one was looking for him. And 100,000 gold pieces? That was enough for anyone to never have to work another day in their life. Anyone and their children, and their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren. 

He could vaguely hear Seonghwa calling his name in the distance, and he thought he registered hands on his shoulders, shaking him. 

“Yeosang!” Seonghwa’s voice finally broke through his trance. Yeosang startled, looking up at Seonghwa’s worried face. “We need to go,  _ now _ ,” he said. He ripped the poster from the board and somehow loaded all of their bags in one hand, grabbing Yeosang’s with the other and pulling him through the crowd. 

They made it to the ship in record time, just as the sun was beginning to set. 

Seonghwa promptly dropped the bags in the middle of the deck before pulling Yeosang inside.

“Hongjoong!” he yelled frantically as soon as the door to the hallway was opened. Almost immediately, the Captain’s door opened at the end of the hall, Hongjoong’s worried face peering out. 

“Seonghwa?” 

“We have a problem,” said Seonghwa, pulling Yeosang inside the cabin and shutting the doors behind him before promptly shoving the two posters toward the Captain. 

Hongjoong’s face darkened. 

“Get Wooyoung,” he said quickly. Seonghwa immediately left. The Captain turned to Yeosang angrily. 

“What the hell is this?” he hissed. 

“I-I don’t know,” replied Yeosang, shaking. 

“Don’t lie. Who are you?” 

“No one I swear!” said Yeosang desperately, feeling tears threaten to spill from his eyes. “I have no idea what’s happening! My mother is dead, you told me! I d-don't know who would be looking for me!” 

Hongjoong’s face softened as the first tears spilled down Yeosang’s cheeks. 

The door burst open. 

“Yeosang?” He barely heard Wooyoung’s voice before warm arms wrapped around him and he began to sob. 

“What did you do?” he heard Wooyoung growl at the Captain angrily. 

“Calm down, Wooyoung,” came Seonghwa’s voice. 

“I will  _ not  _ calm down, why the fuck is he crying?” 

Yeosang heard the rustling of paper before Wooyoung tensed around him. 

There was a moment of silence only broken by Yeosang’s sniffling.

“If this is what I think it is, we need to leave as soon as possible,” said the Captain. Wooyoung didn’t reply, but Yeosang would assume he nodded, as he loosened his hold around him and moved to step away. 

Yeosang instictively let out a gasp, grabbing Wooyoung by the front of his shirt and holding him in place. 

“Yeosang,” whispered Wooyoung, “you need to let go. Go to Seonghwa.” 

Yeosang shook his head. 

“Yeosang,” came Seonghwa’s voice as a new hand hesitantly touched his back. 

He looked up at Wooyoung, who looked back at him apologetically. Like he didn’t want to leave Yeosang just as much as Yeosang didn’t want him to leave. 

Yeosang took a deep breath before letting go and stepping back as Seonghwa’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. 

“Go quickly,” said the Captain to Wooyoung. “We can’t leave without blood. Take Jongho and San. Cover your faces, try not to be seen. Send Mingi and Yunho to find  Hyunwoo and gather the rest of the crew who are still on shore. As soon as you’re all back we’re leaving.” 

Wooyoung was gone a second later. 

“Take Yeosang back to his room,” Hongjoong addressed Seonghwa now. “We can talk tomorrow once we’re far away from here.” 

Yeosang felt himself be led out of the captain’s quarters and back into his own room. Seonghwa guided him all the way to the bed, laying him down gently. 

Yeosang’s mind was reeling. 

“I really don’t know what’s going on,” whispered Yeosang. 

“I know,” responded Seonghwa softly, brushing Yeosang’s hair from his face comfortingly. 

What bothered Yeosang the most was that the Captain and Wooyoung seemed to know something. Something they weren’t sharing with the rest of them. Something possibly about him. 

“Get some rest,” said Seonghwa. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” 

The taller left the room. 

Yeosang shifted to lay on his side, staring at the wall. 

His mind was  in turmoil. He didn’t know what to think, there was too much information processing in his mind. His mother was dead, but  _ someone  _ was looking for him. Someone very rich. 

Yeosang knew the implications. It was clear his mother was lying to him about many things. After all, in his dreams Yeosang continued to see someone he knew to be his father. Someone his mother claimed had died before he was born. 

Maybe his father was looking for him? But why now? The drawing on the poster was recent, so if his father knew where he was the whole time why did he never come for him before?

Yeosang didn’t have any feelings towards his father. He had thought he was dead. He never really wondered what it would be like to grow up with a father, as having just a mother was all he knew. He didn’t spend time around other families except the few that came into the inn. But even watching the other children, Yeosang never felt a particular longing for what he saw. Yeosang loved his mother and was content with what he had. 

He tried to calm his thoughts. He needed to wait to find out what Hongjoong and  Wooyoung seemed to know before he could make any judgments about his own life. He hated not knowing. If Yeosang had one weakness, it was that he hated not knowing. 

He had no idea how long he laid there, staring at the wall. It must have been hours before the door to the bedroom slowly creaked open. Yeosang didn’t move, but glanced to the doorway to see Wooyoung tentatively sticking his head in. 

“You’re back,” said Yeosang quietly, looking to the wall again. 

“Yeah.”

“Did you get what you needed?”

“Yeah.”

Wooyoung seemed to be wrestling with himself in his mind, as he stood awkwardly by the door for a few minutes. 

“You can come,” whispered Yeosang. Wooyoung’s hesitation disappeared as he immediately moved to the bed, climbing in beside Yeosang and wrapping an arm around him, pulling him against his chest and burying his face into the back of Yeosang’s neck. 

The position felt much more... intimate than any they’d been in before. 

“How are you feeling?” asked Wooyoung softly. 

“Confused.”

Wooyoung hummed in response. “Try to get some sleep,” he said. 

Yeosang nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted, and finally fell asleep surrounded by warmth and the comforting smell of  Wooyoung . 

~*~

They awoke the next morning in a tense silence. Despite waking up wrapped around each other, neither commented on it nor did they try to avoid it like they normally did. They simply woke up, quickly got ready, and headed to the Captain’s room. 

As expected, Hongjoong was waiting for them. Surprisingly, he was alone. 

“Wooyoung,” said Hongjoong immediately, expression grave. “What are the chances that Jin  Xinyuan is alive and looking for you?”

“I... don’t know. He was old when I knew him. At least 500, and the average vampire’s lifespan is about 1200 years. If he’s alive, he’s old,” Wooyoung trailed off. “But I have a feeling.” 

“What kind of feeling?” 

“That it’s him.” 

“If it is him, he’s using Yeosang to get to you,” responded Hongjoong shortly. 

“What?” gasped Yeosang in surprise. Hongjoong handed him a sheet of paper. Wooyoung’s wanted poster. Yeosang had only glanced at the headlines yesterday and now took a moment to read the fine print. 

_ “Jung Wooyoung is wanted for the kidnapping of Kang Yeosang. Be on alert, very violent and dangerous. Previously suspected of murder.” _

“But why?” asked Yeosang softly. 

“That’s what we need to find out. The obvious answer is the high reward for finding you. Everyone is going to be looking for you. If Wooyoung is suspected of being your kidnapper, people will also be on the lookout for Wooyoung . The high reward on Wooyoung is just another incentive.” 

“The bigger question,” said Wooyoung. “Is whether they know we actually are together.”

“Right,” responded Hongjoong. He looked at Yeosang again, face impassive. “And so I have to ask you again. Yeosang, do you know who is looking for you?”

Wooyoung tensed beside him, but Yeosang was already shaking his head, panicked. 

“I really don’t but... I have a guess.” 

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow. 

“What if it’s my father?” whispered Yeosang. 

“Your father?” 

“My mother told me he died before I was born. But recently, I’ve been having these dreams of him. With me. As a kid.” 

“You know what he looks like then?”

Yeosang shook his head, almost flinching as he felt Wooyoung’s warm hand wrap around his in support. 

“No, but I know it’s him in my dreams.” 

“And you think he’d be looking for you now?”

“I have no idea. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense, but I don’t know who else it could be.”

“All right, then we know what we need to do,” responded the Captain.

“What?” asked Yeosang in confusion.

“We need to get your memories back." 

Wooyoung tensed beside him. 

“How?” asked Yeosang. 

“I know someone. A witch.” 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Witches can’t be trusted,” said Wooyoung, jaw tensed. 

“It’s the only option we have.”

Wooyoung was silent, but Yeosang could practically feel the tension rolling off of him. 

“Yeosang,” Hongjoong addressed him again. “Go back to your cabin and wait there for Seonghwa. I don’t want you going anywhere  outside of this hallway  alone right now, even on the ship. You never know what the day crew might have seen while on shore, trust no one but the night crew.”

Yeosang nodded, turning to go towards the door when he felt Wooyoung’s hand slip from his. He paused, looking back. 

“Go without me, I’ll be right there,” said Wooyoung stiffly, not looking back at him. 

“Okay,” responded Yeosang quietly. He quickly left, shutting the door to the Captain’s quarters and leaning back against them, letting out the breath he’d been holding. 

That meeting hadn’t helped calm his racing mind. If anything, he had more questions. And more worries. Was he really ready to get his memories back? Would they even be helpful? What if he was wrong?

His thoughts were interrupted by the muffled sounds of Wooyoung’s voice through the door. 

“What are you not telling him?” he growled. 

“Wooyoung, don’t push it,” responded the Captain. 

Yeosang knew he should leave. He shouldn’t be listening to this. But if the Captain knew something about him...

“He has a right to know whatever you’re keeping from him,” said Wooyoung. 

“I’m not keeping anything from him, I don’t know anything for sure.” 

“But you know something.” 

“You know something too.” 

Silence. 

“What do you mean?” came Wooyoung’s voice, so quiet Yeosang almost couldn’t hear it. 

“Think about it, Woo. A boy with golden hair, hidden away on a small island with no recollection of his childhood? A reward of 100,000 gold for finding him?”

“There’s no way.”

“You can’t deny it, Wooyoung.” 

“No, Hongjoong, you don’t understand. It  _ can’t _ be him.”

“I know you don’t want it to be, but you have to look at the facts.”

“Hongjoong, it can’t be him. I can’t let it be him.”

“Wooyoung, calm down.”

“I can’t calm down!”  Woyooung shouted. 

Part of Yeosang knew he should stop listening. His mind was screaming to run. Screaming that he didn’t want to hear the end of this conversation. But his body was frozen. 

“Wooyoung, I know. If it is him, then you’re in a lot of danger too.”

“I don’t care about me!” 

Silence. 

“I don’t care about me,” repeated Wooyoung, voice almost a whisper now. 

“Wooyoung,” said Hongjoong softly after a moment. “What have you not told me?” 

There was no response from Wooyoung. 

“Wooyoung, please, just tell me.” 

“I can’t tell you.”   


“Why not?” 

“Because he’s outside listening.” 

Yeosang flinched away from the door. He heard footsteps quickly approaching, but knew it was too late to run. The door flew open, revealing the Captain. 

The look on his face was unreadable. He wasn’t angry, wasn’t disappointed. It was almost pitying. Understanding. 

And then Yeosang noticed Wooyoung standing in the room behind the Captain. 

Any fear he felt turned to anger. 

He stomped towards Wooyoung, practically pushing the Captain out of the way. 

“Yeosang,” the other tried to speak, but was cut off by Yeosang placing two palms flat on his chest and shoving. 

Wooyoung stumbled backwards. 

“How could you do this?” yelled Yeosang, angry tears burning at his eyes.

“Yeosang,” began the Captain. 

“No!” Yeosang cut him off sharply. “You, I don’t care. But  _ you _ ,” he said, pushing Wooyoung again. “How could you keep something from me? After I confided in you? After you watched me  _ cry _ ? How could you sit there, knowing you had the answer?” 

Wooyoung’s gaze quickly shifted from guilty to sharp, grabbing Yeosang’s wrists as he moved to hit him again. 

“But I didn’t know!” he yelled back. Yeosang froze in shock. “I still don’t! I don’t have the answer, Yeosang. All we have is a guess.”

“And you couldn’t even tell me that?” he bit back. 

“No, we can’t.”

“Why not?” 

“Because you deserve more than a guess, Yeosang,” responded Wooyoung softly. Yeosang’s anger deflated as suddenly as it had risen. “It’s not fair to you for us to fill your head with our theories if we’re wrong. And if we’re right, you deserve to find out on your own.”

“I don’t understand.” 

“Do you trust me?” Yeosang looked up at Wooyoung. The other’s gaze had lost its hardness once again and was looking at him with something soft that Yeosang couldn’t name. Something just a little bit hopeful. 

Yeosang swallowed before nodding. 

“Yes,” he whispered. “I trust you.” 

“Then trust me when I say the best thing is for us to get your memories back and not fill your head with possible lies. They’ll only make you more confused.” 

Yeosang drew his lips together in a thin line, but nodded. He wanted to argue but he understood Wooyoung was probably right. If all they had was speculations then they wouldn’t do him any good. What if he desperately clung to their speculations and tried to make connections to his dreams, getting his hopes up only for them to be wrong?

Waiting was best. 

Even if it left him frustrated. 

“Yeosang,” said Hongjoong softly. “I’m truly sorry, but I promise you we will do everything in our power to help you get your memories back. We are headed to the witch as we speak.” 

“I’m still not happy with this witch idea,” grumbled Wooyoung. “Witches can’t be trusted.” 

“This one can.” 

“How do you know?” 

“We go way back,” said Hongjoong with a smirk. 

“ You’re friends with a witch?” questioned Wooyoung skeptically. 

“I wouldn’t say friends.” 

“Then how do you know her?” 

Hongjoong’s smirk grew. 

“She’s the one  who  cursed us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter/cc @Dazzling_Sang
> 
> dazzlingsang.carrd.co


	11. Will You Regret Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm a day late I've been so sick this weekend I couldn't even get out of bed to get my computer TT
> 
> as usual I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter but here it is

It had been five days since their conversation in the Captain’s quarters. 

Wooyoung, of course, had started another outburst once Hongjoong had revealed how he knew the witch, and Yeosang had quietly slipped out rather than stay for the fight. 

Since then, he’d been avoiding Wooyoung. 

Sure he agreed that waiting was best, but that didn’t mean he was happy with the other. And Wooyoung was all too easy to avoid when he himself was sulking over the fact that they were going to be trusting the witch who had cursed Hongjoong and Seonghwa. 

Yeosang couldn’t find it in him to care about the witch. 

A strange atmosphere had settled over the ship. The others quickly noticed the tension, even if they didn’t know what was happening. 

Yeosang didn’t think it was fair that they be kept in the dark. If there was a bounty on Wooyoung’s head, the others deserved to know why. But they didn’t even question it. Yeosang didn’t know if it was some insane form of trust or if they hadn’t even been shown the wanted posters. 

Yeosang wondered how much had been revealed to Seonghwa especially. 

Seonghwa was, essentially, the first mate. It seemed like Hongjoong didn’t make any decisions without consulting Seonghwa. Yet, Seonghwa _knew_ that Hongjoong was hiding important details from him and still just blindly trusted him. He supposed that must be what love does to you. 

But then again, wasn’t Yeosang doing the same thing with Wooyoung? 

He blindly trusted Wooyoung, who he knew was hiding what could be key pieces of his past from him. But a part of him didn’t care. One part of him wholeheartedly, blindly trusted the vampire. 

On the outside, it looked like Yeosang was avoiding Wooyoung because he was angry with him. In reality, Yeosang was avoiding him because he _wasn’t_ angry. 

And that scared him. 

He’d known of his growing feelings for the vampire for a while. Calmly embraced them. The feelings didn’t scare him. Rather, how they made him act is what scared him. What scared him was the fact that he _wasn’t afraid_. 

He wasn’t afraid of the fact that Wooyoung was a vampire. Wasn’t afraid of the fact that he so willingly and easily gave all of his trust to Wooyoung when the other could so easily break him. Wasn’t afraid to blindly follow the other wherever he may lead him. Hell, a part of him knew that even if he never got his memories back, he would be okay with it as long as Wooyoung told him it was okay. 

Yeosang wasn’t afraid of his feelings, he was afraid of himself. Of his own naivety. 

Yeosang sighed. He was up on the deck alone, other than the usual presence in the crow’s nest, the night breeze hitting his face like icicles. They were headed north again, risking the ice infested waters in order to reach Hongjoong’s witch friend, who had settled in a rather unpopulated part of a large northern kingdom. 

He stared at the dark waters, thinking. 

Before the mess with the wanted posters, the main thing on his mind had been confronting Wooyoung about whatever was going on between them. Now he wasn’t sure if it was the right time. 

But then again, would there be a right time? Yeosang had a feeling his life wouldn’t be calm again for a long time. Something in his gut told him that unlocking his memories was only going to lead to more chaos. 

The sound of soft waves crashing around him had allowed his mind to wander as his body relaxed, but he still felt a presence approach him. He knew Wooyoung had been watching him from the crow’s nest, but had prayed this wouldn’t happen. 

“Wooyoung,” he said softly. “What do you need?” 

“You’ve been avoiding me,” responded Wooyoung, straight to the point. 

Yeosang sighed again, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. 

“I have.” 

“Why?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” 

“No. I know you aren’t mad at me. It’s something else.” 

Yeosang took a deep breath, turning around to look at the other. It was now or never. 

“How did you know I was on the other side of the door?” he asked, not needing to clarify. 

Wooyoung froze. 

“I… I just assumed you’d be eavesdropping. It’s what anyone would do in that situation,” he said, not meeting Yeosang’s eyes. 

“You’re not a very good liar,” replied Yeosang, crossing his arms and raising his brow. 

“I’m not lying.” 

“Cut the bullshit, Wooyoung, you always avoid my eyes when you don’t want to tell me something. I think this is the first time you’ve outright lied though.” 

“If you know I’m lying, then why are you asking?” snapped Wooyoung, finally meeting Yeosang’s eyes with a stony glare. 

“Because I want to hear you say it.” 

“Say what?” 

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have figured out by now that we’re soulmates?” 

There was silence. Waves crashed against the hull of the ship around them and the sails rustled with the wind but to the two of them it was as if all sound had been sucked away. 

This really wasn’t how Yeosang had intended this conversation to go. He hadn’t finished his internal debate about feelings before Wooyoung interrupted him, and suddenly everything was spilling out. And now with every second of silence from Wooyoung he felt his confidence waning. Maybe he was wrong? All of the signs pointed to it, but maybe Yeosang was reading them wrong and Wooyoung was actually with San and just being nice. He would feel like an idiot if that were the case. 

“Don’t try to avoid this, please,” he spoke again, almost whispering, practically begging. He hadn’t even consciously spoken. Something about Wooyoung made him confident and insecure all at the same time. Made every part of him react in the ways he least expected. 

“I’m not… avoiding, I’m just…” Wooyoung trailed off, eyes traveling everywhere except Yeosang. 

“Surprised?” 

Wooyoung nodded, looking at him again. 

“You always surprise me,” he said, letting out a deep breath. 

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Yeosang asked, taking a step forward. 

“Good,” whispered the other. 

“Then let me ask you again.” Another step. “How did you know I was on the other side of the door?” 

The other was silent again, studying Yeosang’s face. But this time, Yeosang didn’t press. He waited. 

The air between them was tense. Not a bad tense, a weird tense. Like there was a string of rubber between them, on the verge of snapping and forcing them to crash together. 

“I always know where you are,” Wooyoung finally spoke. 

“How?” 

Another step. 

“I can feel it.” 

“How?” 

A final step, bringing him chest to chest with the other. 

“A vampire can always feel the presence of his true mate.” 

Yeosang’s face broke into a bright smile. 

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” he said. He watched as some of the tension left Wooyoung’s body and the other gave him a small smile in return. 

“Now,” said Yeosang. “Are you going to kiss me or not?” 

“I...” Wooyoung swallowed, his gaze flickering from Yeosang’s eyes to his lips. 

“I can’t,” he finished, abruptly taking a step back and breaking their eye contact. Yeosang felt his heart sink, his body plunging into ice. 

“Why?” 

“I can’t,” the other repeated. “Not until you get your memories back.” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“You might change your mind. I can’t take advantage of you like that.” 

“It’s not taking advantage of me, I want this!” 

“You might change your mind.” 

“You don’t _know_ that. We’re soulmates, Wooyoung. Why fight it?” 

“Just because we’re soulmates doesn’t mean we can be together, Yeosang,” Wooyoung finally snapped, looking Yeosang in the eyes. But instead of anger, Yeosang only saw pain. 

“You’re not making any sense.” 

“I’m sorry, Yeosang.” 

Yeosang sighed, deflating. He shifted his gaze to the deck. 

“But you want to, right?” he asked softly. 

“You have no idea how much,” the other whispered in return. Yeosang gave a small nod. 

“Okay.” 

A minute passed with no noise other than the crashing waves around them. 

“You should go to sleep,” said Wooyoung. 

“Will yo-” Yeosang’s question caught in his throat as he looked up only to see the other had gone, barely catching sight of the door to the cabin area swinging shut. 

And it hurt. More than any pain Yeosang had ever experienced. More than the time he’d tumbled down the stairs in the inn, more than the time he’d accidentally touched a pot of boiling soup. More than the memory of being forcefully drowned. 

This time, his heart hurt. 

~*~ 

One month. 

Hongjoong had said it would take them one month to reach the witch. 

In the weeks after their conversation, Yeosang still felt an ache when he looked at Wooyoung. 

Ache. Desire. Confusion. Pain. _Want_. 

For the first time in his life, Yeosang felt out of place. 

He’d always been a rather calm person. He was not easily shocked or surprised. He always knew what to expect of people, how they would act and how they wanted him to act. It was just a feeling. He was good at reading people. 

But Wooyoung. Wooyoung kept doing things he didn’t expect. For some reason, it seemed he could never read Wooyoung. 

For the first time in his life, Yeosang didn’t know what to expect. 

And it _hurt._

They acted normal around the others. They joked around, told stories, played games. Everything seemed usual on the outside, but now Yeosang went back to their room alone. Fell asleep alone. Woke up alone. 

He didn’t open his books on vampires, opting to instead listen to stories from the others. He didn’t speak directly to Wooyoung, and the other didn’t speak directly to him. 

Yeosang didn’t know if it was just him, but the air around the two felt charged. Every time he made eye contact with the other, he felt drawn in like a magnet. The conversation around him would drop away. His thoughts would stray, remembering how it felt to wake up next to the other. Wondering about the softness of his lips. His daze would only be broken when the other dropped his gaze. 

Even when alone in his room, Yeosang had trouble focusing on the problems at hand. He still had dreams, but found that he didn’t care to think about interpreting them as much as he cared about interpreting the way Wooyoung had looked at him from across the deck that evening. 

Without Wooyoung, Yeosang found that his dreams more often than not were turning into nightmares. He would often wake up in a cold sweat, praying he hadn’t yelled or screamed. He knew Wooyoung could sense his distress and wondered what the other felt. 

But the other never came. 

And it hurt. 

For two more weeks he sat through night after night of creepy, toothy smiles and the feeling of water filling his lungs. 

The nightmare was always the same, stopping just when the man came at him with a knife. 

Until one night it didn’t. 

One night, it didn’t stop and he felt as the knife pierced his abdomen. In his dream he was barely a boy, and it felt as if the knife was driven into his entire body. 

_He screamed; the man laughed. All Yeosang could feel was pain. Pain and a weird wet warmth spreading over his body as blood pooled in the wound._

_The man pulled out the knife, bringing a fresh wave of pain._

_But as he lifted the knife, preparing to strike again, he was interrupted by the sound of hooves._

_Suddenly, horses burst onto the beach. At least a dozen of them._

_The man dropped the knife as his henchmen scrambled to get away. Yeosang could hardly focus on the scene, barely noticing as an all too familiar boy ran up to him, grabbing his face and pressing a hand to his wound._

_The boy’s mouth was moving, but_ _Yeosang_ _couldn’t hear him. He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t feel anything._

_Yeosang felt the dark calling him, allowing himself to succumb to it._

_But instead of darkness, the scene changed. The boy above him morphed from chocolate brown hair and warm brown eyes into an equally familiar silver hair and brown eyes._

“Yeosang!” said Wooyoung, shaking him by the shoulder as he blinked awake. 

“Wooyoung?” 

“Are you okay?” the other asked, quickly releasing Yeosang from his hold. Yeosang then realized he was shaking on his own. 

“I... think so,” he responded. 

“Are you sure? It felt... that nightmare was different, wasn’t it?” 

“Yeah.” Yeosang moved himself to sit up. “It was longer.” 

“You scared me. It was like... one minute you were having a nightmare and the next you were gone. I couldn’t feel you at all,” responded Wooyoung, chewing on his lip. 

“So you only care if I’m gone, then?” snapped Yeosang. He regretted it immediately as Wooyoung's eyes widened in panic. 

“No! I just... I thought...” Wooyoung’s voice trailed off, lowering to nothing but a whisper. “I thought it would be better if I stayed away.” 

“Sorry, I know,” sighed Yeosang. “I’m just a little tense from the nightmare.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Honestly, I can’t remember much of the new part now,” responded Yeosang, furrowing his brow. It was odd. Since his dreams were memories, usually he remembered them after he woke up. Now though, all he could remember was pain and a blurry form hunched over him. He knew he recognized whoever it was, knew he could name them during his dream, but now he couldn’t even picture their face. 

“That’s probably a good thing. Whatever it was, I could tell it wasn’t pleasant. You were in pain. And scared. But then you were just... _gone_. It was like you’d disappeared from existence. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared,” Wooyoung whispered. Unconsciously, he had reached out to grab Yeosang’s hand. 

Yeosang gave it a small squeeze, and the other startled and then tried to move his hand away, but Yeosang gripped it tightly. 

“Please don’t leave,” he whispered back. 

“I have to,” Wooyoung replied, voice sounding pained. He gently pulled his hand from Yeosang’s and moved to the door. 

“No, you don’t.” 

“Yes, I do.” 

“What are you so afraid of?” 

Wooyoung grimaced, pausing in the center of the room as he looked at Yeosang. He seemed to be having an internal debate. 

“I’m afraid of regret,” he finally spoke. 

Yeosang felt as if he’d been stabbed with the knife all over again. 

“I thought you wanted to kiss me,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. 

“Not of me regretting. Of _you_ regretting. What if you get your memories back, only to find out you hate vampires? What if you gain your memories back only to find yourself disgusted with the idea of kissing a vampire, and then you’ll hate me and worst of all you’ll hate _yourself_ . Or if you find out that the person looking for you is actually your father and you want to go back to him. You know I can’t go with you, it’s too dangerous. Isn’t it better to never know what it would be like to be together if it’s only going to get ripped away? I’m afraid that _you_ will regret _me_.” 

There was a moment of silence as the other’s words sunk in. 

“You’re an idiot Jung Wooyoung.” 

“What?” 

Yeosang stood up, feeling a sudden burst of courage. 

“I can’t guarantee you that I won’t gain my memories back and find some vampire trauma in my childhood. Or that I won’t want to find my father if he really is alive. I can’t guarantee that everything is going to work out perfect for us. I can’t guarantee that we won’t be separated when I get my memories back. And _that_ is the very reason that you are an idiot, Jung Wooyoung. Right now, I know what I feel for you and what you feel for me. Right now, I know that I want this. And right now, I know that I’d rather have this for one night only than spend the rest of my life wondering what it would have been like. Because one thing I can guarantee you is that _I_ could _never_ regret you.” 

“So now there is only one question left,” continued Yeosang. “Will you regret me?” 

Yeosang didn’t even register Wooyoung moving before he felt their lips crash together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly originally I was gonna wait longer for anything to happen but idk it felt right 
> 
> I'm sorry I'm terrible at writing feelings jfklavlanvkj
> 
> As usual my twitter/cc is @Dazzling_Sang!!
> 
> dazzlingsang.carrd.co


	12. I Know Who You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to have left y'all on such a cliffhanger but some of you may know that instead of updating this last Saturday I posted a new one-shot! It's actually one of my favourite things I've written so if you like Hogwarts AUs check it out~
> 
> Also I'm a bit nervous to post this cuz I'm terrible at writing romance stuff but idk I tried to establish Yeosang's character as someone who is like... very blunt so hopefully it works
> 
> I'm just gonna internally scream as I press the post button

Wooyoung kissed him hungrily, and he stumbled backwards. 

Yeosang had never kissed anyone before, and never imagined it would be like this. 

In novels, people often talked of fireworks, or puzzle pieces fitting together. Of feeling like they were coming home. 

Yeosang didn’t feel any of that. 

This kiss was a volcano. The eruption of feelings so intense Yeosang couldn’t even put a name to them. 

There was nothing romantic about it. Their teeth knocked together as they both pressed close to each other.  Wooyoung’s hands  gripped Yeosang’s face, and without realizing Yeosang had moved to  hold on to Wooyoung’s waist. 

Yeosang’s eyes were shut tight, and he kissed back with a fervor, praying  he wasn’t doing something weird since he didn’t really know how to kiss. 

It was messy, it was panicked, and it was perfect. 

He felt Wooyoung’s hands move from his cheeks to the back of his head, tangling in his hair and pulling.  The action caused Yeosang to open his mouth  wider  and Wooyoung immediately slid his tongue inside , tangling them together.

Wooyoung groaned, and Yeosang felt lightning travel through his body. 

Wooyoung suddenly pressed against him, causing Yeosang to stumble backwards until the back of his knees hit the bed and he collapsed, the two of then breaking apart for just a moment. 

He looked up at Wooyoung, who looked down at him with deep crimson eyes. 

He  let out a whine , and that’s all it took before Wooyoung’s lips were on his again, the other  kneeling  in between his legs and pushing him until he lay flat on his back. 

They were impossibly close, but too far apart at the same time. 

Wooyoung’s mouth left his only to immediately latch onto  his jaw. 

“Wooyoung,” said Yeosang , voice gruff and breathy . 

The other froze, and all too soon  his weight was gone and he stood across the room, brown bleeding back into his eyes as he looked worriedly at the  Yeosang who laid on the bed,  breathing heavily . 

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice  hoarse. “I didn’t mean to.” 

“Why… did you… stop?” asked Yeosang between breaths, finally shifting onto his elbows to look at the other. 

“I thought I was going too far. You don’t want me to stop?” 

“God no,” breathed out  Yeosang . That was all it took before he found himself shoved back onto the bed,  Wooyoung’s weight on top of him once again. Hands tangled in his hair again and he let out a moan, his own hands gripping  Wooyoung’s shirt. 

All he could focus on was Wooyoung. The smell of him, the sound of him, the feel of him, the taste of him. He felt dizzy, drunk on the feeling of the vampire above him. He had never imagined a first kiss would feel this intense. 

Wooyoung’s mouth left his, kissing up his jaw before nibbling on his earlobe, causing Yeosang’s breath to hitch. He then moved down his throat, sucking marks that sent a shiver down his spine. 

“Wooyoung,” Yeosang whined again. 

“Hmm?” the other hummed against his throat. 

“Bite me.” 

Wooyoung froz e in his movements,  causing Yeosang  to freeze in response. He had no idea what possessed him to say that .

He’d never thought about it before. In all honestly, Wooyoung being a vampire was like an afterthought to his daily life. The knowledge didn’t affect any decisions he  made. Didn’t affect his feelings . 

Yet right now, at this very moment, his brain short circuited and he’d said those two words. 

Wooyoung slowly pulled his face out of Yeosang’s neck,  looking him in the eyes. 

“I could hurt you,” he said. 

Yeosang gulped. 

“You won’t.” 

“I will. I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself.” 

“I trust you to stop before it’s too much.” 

“Not… just like that.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Wooyoung flickered his gaze away, seeming embarrassed. 

“Biting between mates is a very… intimate act.” 

“I’m not sure I understand.” 

Wooyoung’s cheeks seemed to turn a little red. 

“I mean,” he started , shifting his hips  until something was pressed against Yeosang’s thigh and  _ oh _ . That’s what he meant. 

“Vampires get a sort of high from drinking their mate’s blood.  And the stories say that between true mates it’s even more intense , since there is more than just a magical bond. Vampires lose control , the euphoric feeling is supposed to be mind-numbing. But you’re a human.  I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“I trust you,” repeated Yeosang. 

“I don’t want to do anything you aren’t ready for.” 

“I’m ready.” 

“Yeosang, that was your first kiss,” deadpanned Wooyoung. “Do you even know how sex between two men works ? Do you even know what you’re trying to say you’re ready for ?”

Yeosang felt his face heat up , looking away. 

“But,” began Yeosang. “I’m afraid that if we stop now, I’ll wake up tomorrow and this will all have been part of my dream.  You’re going to go back to ignoring me.” 

“ I won’t,” said Wooyoung immediately. He gently brought a hand to Yeosang’s face and  guided his gaze back to the other.  “I won’t run from this  anymore. You were right, it’s better to have it while we can. I’m sorry it took me so long, we could have had so much more time.” 

“Can you promise me? Promise me that when morning comes, you’ll be here,” he said, voice small. Wooyoung slid his hand into Yeosang’s, threading their fingers together. 

“I swear to you, Kang Yeosang, I will never leave you alone until you tell me to.” 

“Okay,” said  Yeosang , letting out a breath. He gave a small smile. 

“Good,” replied Wooyoung, giving him one last chaste kiss before rolling to his side. His warm arms immediately wrapped around Yeosang, pulling the other to his chest with a content sigh. 

He felt the other’s hot breath against his neck. 

“I’m sorry,” Wooyoung whispered, so quiet Yeosang almost couldn’t hear him. 

“For what?” asked Yeosang in response, equally as quiet so as not to break the calm of the room around them. 

“For taking so long. For being so afraid.” 

“It’s natural to be afraid,” said Yeosang, tracing circles on Wooyoung’s hand that was laid across his stomach. “These feelings scared me at first. You’re hard to predict, and I didn’t know what to expect from you. Even after I pieced together that we’re true mates I didn’t know what that entailed.”

“We could have had so much more time if I had just sat down and talked to you about it. Approached you about it.” 

“You were worried. Most people wouldn’t react well to finding out that someone they just met is not only a vampire but their soulmate.” 

“You aren’t most people.” 

“You’re right,” said Yeosang with a small smile. 

Wooyoung sighed. 

“We’re supposed to reach the witch soon. Everything might change,” he said, voice distant. 

“It won’t.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“But I do,” said  Yeosang . “I don’t know what I’m going to remember. I don’t know what you think I’m going to remember. But I already told you, there is one thing I know for sure. I know that I love you. And I know that whatever I find out isn’t going to change that. Not just because we’re true mates or soulmates or whatever you want to call it. Sure, I felt a strange connection to you in the beginning, but I fell in love with you for being you. I’ve loved you since that first night after San’s injury, when you took me into the crow’s nest and we talked about our lives. You were so carefree, so  _ human _ . Despite how you seem to view yourself because of your past, I know you’re not a monster. A monster wouldn’t be capable of honoring to the memories of his father through the things he was taught. A monster wouldn’t be capable of holding so much love for the sister he sacrificed everything for. A monster wouldn’t be capable of finding a new family in his six crew members. And that’s why I’ll never be afraid of you. No matter what I remember, I know who you are Jung Wooyoung, and nothing can stop me from loving you.”

He felt Wooyoung shift, the warmth of his arm moving from his stomach and a soft hand guiding his shoulder until he lay flat on the bed again, looking up at Wooyoung as he leaned over him. 

And then Wooyoung kissed him again. 

But this kiss was different. There was nothing frantic about it. It was overflowing, yes, but not in the same chaotic way as before.  _ This  _ kiss felt like home. It was soft and it was chaste, nothing but Wooyoung’s plush lips slowly moving against his. And Yeosang could feel him. He could feel every bit of Wooyoung overflowing into himself. The kiss felt like home, and the kiss felt like love. 

Yeosang felt breathless in a whole new way when the other pulled away, just barely, foreheads resting together and hot breath mixing in between them. 

“I love you too,” was all he said. 

And just like that, Yeosang no longer hurt. 

~*~

“Ok, what happened to you?” asked Seonghwa after what was probably Yeosang’s twelfth dreamy sigh. 

“Huh?” he responded, having been spacing out while he chopped carrots. 

“Something obviously happened. I know you and Wooyoung had some kind of fight before, you were moping for weeks. Now suddenly you’re sighing all dreamy and lovey  dovey . Obviously  you two did more than just make up. Did you sleep together or something ?” 

“What?! No!” Yeosang shrieked, dropping the knife in surprise. 

Seonghwa eyed him and Yeosang felt his cheeks burn. 

“I mean, we almost did but-“ 

“W ait, what ?!” now it was Seonghwa’s turn to shriek, dropping the sack  of  dried meat he’d been holding, causing it to spill onto the floor.  He ran over and grabbed Yeosang by the shoulders. “Tell me everything, now.” 

“There’s not much to tell,” said Yeosang nervously. “A while ago we had a fight. I  approached him about the whole vampire soulmate thing-“ 

“You did what?!” 

“Will you stop that? I approached him, and he rejected me. ” 

“He rejected you? That little bitch.” 

“Obviously I was hurt and upset, but he’s the one who started ignoring me. Last night, I had another nightmare and he came to check on me. I finally got him to tell me why he rejected me and told him he was being stupid. Then he kissed me.” 

“Oh my god you really kissed.  But who confessed first?” 

“Umm, there wasn’t really a big confession? I mean  I guess I did when I asked him to kiss me, but he rejected me then. Though he said he wanted to kiss me so I suppose he returned  it? I’m not really sure.” 

“I am, I think that counts as you confessing. San owes me 12 silver.” 

“What the fuck? You bet on  us?” 

“Of course we did. We’re pirates what did you expect?” 

“I don’t know, I kind of forget we’re pirates since we never really do anything  piratey .” 

“Sweetie, did you really think I’ve paid for everything at all the ports we stop at?” asked Seonghwa with a sly smile.

“Well… yeah?” responded Yeosang sheepishly. 

“You’re such an innocent baby,” responded Seonghwa, pulling Yeosang into a hug. 

“I’m not,” groaned Yeosang. “Will you tell me what you and San bet now?” 

“ I bet that you’d confess to Wooyoung before we reached the witch, simple as that.  San thought there was no way you noticed Wooyoung’s feelings and that Wooyoung would be the one to confess first but not for at least a few more months.” 

“Months?” 

“San has very little faith in Wooyoung.” 

Yeosang hummed in response. 

“Something else is on your mind,” stated Seonghwa. 

“How could you tell?”

“You’re easy to read,” said Seonghwa with a smile. 

“Usually people say the opposite,” Yeosang gave a small smile in return before sighing. Not a dreamy sigh this time. 

“Just tell me when you’re ready,” said Seonghwa, moving to clean up the dried meat he dropped earlier. 

“It’s kind of stupid,” mumbled Yeosang. 

Seonghwa hummed in response. 

“It’s just,” began Yeosang again. “Last night, when we were kissing, I sort of... asked him to bite me.” 

“What?!” yelled Seonghwa, dropping the meat he’d just picked up. 

“That’s not even the most embarrassing part,” whined Yeosang, covering his face with his hands. “He said no because it’s too intimate and then when I said I don’t care he asked me if I even know how sex between two men works!” 

“So you’re embarrassed because he rejected you.”

“No, I’m embarrassed because he’s right!” Yeosang whined again.

“Oh,” said Seonghwa in surprise. “Really?” 

Yeosang nodded behind his hands. 

“Hmm. I know it’s still a bit taboo in most kingdoms but… usually most boys your age would at least know about it.” 

Yeosang dropped his hands from his face with a sigh. 

“There’s a lot of things I don’t know,” he mumbled. “If I couldn’t learn it from a book a  traveler brought me then…” 

“I see,” said Seonghwa. He was quiet for a moment before continuing. “You know you can just ask Wooyoung.” 

Yeosang flushed again. 

“I can’t just  _ ask him  _ out of the blue. That’s embarrassing,” he whined. 

“How else are you going to learn?” 

“You could tell me?” asked Yeosang sheepishly. 

“ Yah! I’m way too young to be giving kids the sex talk!”  said Seonghwa. 

“You’re 300 years old!” quipped Yeosang. 

“Still young!  I’m not your dad!” 

“More like my mom!” 

“Yah! I liked you better when you were shy! Now I’m really not telling you anything. ” 

“No, please! I can’t ask Wooyoung,” whined Yeosang, pouting at the elder. Seonghwa’s face softened. 

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you.  But I promise that Wooyoung won’t judge you, and I know you’ll find it less embarrassing to have this talk with him than with me,” said Seonghwa gently. 

“Fine,” huffed Yeosang. He let Seonghwa give him a gentle pat to the head. 

“Come on, let’s finish lunch.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually when I was first writing this chapter I thought about smut and then chickened out but basically set it up so I can't chicken out of smut in the future so the eventual smut tag will not be a lie I WILL MAKE MYSELF
> 
> ~*~
> 
> twt/cc @Dazzling_Sang
> 
> dazzlingsang.carrd.co


	13. Double Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me??? Finally updating both my fics in one day????
> 
> I'm sooo sorry this took forever. I've been struggling with some things but that's no excuse. I will hopefully be able to get back on a regular update schedule again soon. This is unedited so please excuse any mistakes TT 
> 
> Enjoy some fluffy filler shenanigans, we've still got a long journey ahead of us

That evening, Yeosang was sitting in their room, cross-legged on the end of the bed and reading a book on enchantments when Wooyoung woke up. 

He didn’t shift his attention from the book when he heard the other stir behind him, feeling a tug on the sheets underneath him as Wooyoung shifted before warm arms wrapped around his middle and a face was buried in his lower back. 

“What are you doing here?” slurred Wooyoung, voice muffled. 

“Reading.” 

Wooyoung slapped him lightly on the stomach. “I can _see_ that. I mean what are you doing in this room?” 

“Am I not allowed to be here?” 

Wooyoung sighed dramatically, unwrapping himself from the other boy before Yeosang felt a hand on his arm and he was pulled down onto the bed with a startled yelp, the book falling from his lap. 

Immediately, Wooyoung rolled on top of him. 

“Stop being rude,” he said. 

Yeosang blinked up at him innocently. “I don’t know what you mean.” 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes with a fond sigh before he leaned down to peck Yeosang on the lips. 

Yeosang hummed happily. “That’s why I’m here. So you can do that.” 

“I knew you had a reason,” responded Wooyoung, pinching Yeosang’s side before rolling back off of him. 

Yeosang sat up again, picking up his book. 

“What are you reading?” asked Wooyoung, hooking his chin over Yeosang’s shoulder and snaking his arms around his waist once again. 

“Enchantments.” 

“Anything useful?” 

Yeosang hummed. “Actually, there is something I want to try.” 

“Oh?” responded Wooyoung, eyebrow raised in question. 

“According to this book, while spells and enchantments require real power, potions can be brewed by most people. And some of them the ingredients are really simple.” 

Wooyoung hummed in acknowledgement, urging the other to continue. 

“Like this one here. We have most of this in the kitchen and infirmary,” said Yeosang, pointing to a page. 

“And what does it do?” 

“Well… nothing important. It gives the drinker bad luck for a few hours. You can make it with different levels of potency. If we make it weaker, basically they’ll do things like trip and drop stuff. I was thinking we could try it out, just to see if the potions actually work for us.” 

“Mm. It probably won’t work if I make it. Vampires can’t do magic.” 

Yeosang nodded. “Oh, I didn’t know that. But do potions work on vampires?” 

“I guess we should find out,” said Wooyoung with a sly smile, moving his head back and looking at Yeosang. “Who should we try it on?” 

Yeosang thought for a moment. “Mingi? He’s clumsy enough that no one will notice if he suddenly starts dropping things.” 

Wooyoung’s face lit up. “Who knew little Yeosang liked to pull pranks.” 

“Hey,” pouted Yeosang. “I may be responsible, but I can be fun too.” 

“I know,” said Wooyoung, kissing his pout. “I just like to tease you.” 

“Meanie,” said Yeosang, the smile on his face contradicting his words. 

His heart fluttered when Wooyoung leaned in again, this time connecting their lips for longer. He didn’t think he would ever get used to this, it still felt like a dream. 

“So when do you want to do this? The tricky part will be not getting caught by Seonghwa,” said Yeosang after Wooyoung pulled away. 

“That’s what you think about when I’m kissing you?” said Wooyoung with a pout. Yeosang gave him an unimpressed look. 

“We’ll need a fire to make it, but only Seonghwa and Yunho are allowed to light fires on the ship. It will be tricky to not get caught if someone sees the smoke. Our best bet is probably to do it during the shift change time, when the day crew are all going down to their sleeping quarters and everyone else hasn’t woken up yet. Seonghwa usually goes to the Captain’s quarters for around an hour during that time as well.” 

“You thought this all out already, didn’t you?” 

“I’ve had the idea for a while,” admitted Yeosang sheepishly. “I just wasn’t sure if I could do it by myself and we... well, we weren’t talking. I thought about asking Jongho for help, he seemed like my best bet, but I was nervous since I still don’t know him very well.” 

Wooyoung frowned. “You still feel uncomfortable around the rest of the crew?” 

Yeosang quickly shook his head. “No, not at all. It’s just not the same as with you or Seonghwa. And maybe I feel a bit uncomfortable around Jongho I guess. He doesn’t really talk to me? I’m not sure why, but I get a weird feeling from him.” 

“A weird feeling? He’s just a kid. Pretty much acts like one too.” 

“Not around me. You never noticed?” 

Wooyoung thought for a moment. “I guess you’re right. I can’t really remember a time when he spoke to you directly or you two were alone together. How strange.” 

“Is he usually distrustful of new people?” 

“I don’t actually know. Jongho has only been with us for a couple years. He’s a bratty little kid but he hasn’t really opened up about his past. He was pretty jumpy for a while when he first joined us but obviously there hasn’t been anyone new until you.” 

“I wonder if it’s me then.” 

“How could it be you?” 

“I don’t know I just... have a feeling,” said Yeosang with a frown. 

“Does that mean I shouldn’t ask him to help us?” 

“Do you think he would?” 

“Even if he’s uncomfortable around you for whatever reason, he’d never pass up an opportunity to mess with Mingi,” said Wooyoung with a sly smile. 

“We could use his help then.” 

“Great, are we done planning for now then?” asked Wooyoung impatiently. 

“Oh, um, yes, I suppose?” said Yeosang, confused. Wooyoung only grinned at him before Yeosang suddenly felt a tug on his waist and found himself back on the bed, Wooyoung’s presence on top of him. 

Warm lips met his softly and Yeosang hummed, closing his eyes. Yeosang felt one of Wooyoung’s hands tangle in his hair, the other threading through Yeosang’s. 

Wooyoung’s lips moved gently against his, slow and sweet. Yeosang felt his body go pliant, letting the other take the lead. Feeling something poking at his lips, he gently parted them so Wooyoung could slip his tongue inside. 

The kiss stayed gentle, soft, exploratory. The world around them seemed to fade away as Wooyoung moved against him, occasionally nipping Yeosang’s bottom lip, causing him to groan. 

Even if it remained soft and slow, the kiss grew heated, the air between them tightening and breathing growing heavy. Yeosang felt his body grow hot, something weird tightening in his stomach. It was like the room didn’t exist anymore, and all that mattered was getting closer to Wooyoung. 

“Yeosang,” whispered Wooyoung between kisses. 

Yeosang could only hum in response. 

“I love you,” he continued. 

Yeosang froze at the words, feeling his face heat up. Wooyoung pulled away, eyes full of worry. 

“Did I say something wrong?” he asked. 

Yeosang quickly shook his head, looking up at the other as his blush deepened. The oil lamp created a halo around the other above him. He looked unreal. 

“I was just surprised,” Yeosang whispered back. Wooyoung smiled softly at that, leaning down to give him another peck before pulling back again. 

And then they were just staring, but it wasn’t awkward. Wooyoung looked down at him, hand moving from his hair to trace Yeosang’s face. 

After a moment of silence, Yeosang took a deep breath. 

“Hey, Wooyoung,” he said softly. 

The other hummed questioningly in response. 

“Remember last night, when you asked me something,” mumbled Yeosang, eyes darting away from Wooyoung. The other simply waited for him. “You asked me, if I knew how sex between two men works.” 

Another hum. 

“Well, I don’t.” 

Wooyoung stilled. Yeosang felt his face heat back up, sure a permanent blush would soon settle on his face. 

“I don’t know how it works, and I was embarrassed and tried to ask Seonghwa which somehow was only more embarrassing. And he just told me to ask _you_ which seemed like a worse idea and even more embarrassing and this is seeming like a really bad idea right now because you’re not saying anything.” 

He quickly glanced back to Wooyoung, who was staring at him with an unreadable gaze. Yeosang cleared his throat. 

“I would really appreciate if you said something because this is really embarrassing for me and the only reason I brought it up is because I’m feeling really weird right now all over my body and so it felt like the right topic to bring up but now I’m not so confident.” 

Wooyoung smirked at him, something flashing in his eyes and the suddenly the air in the room felt thick. Yeosang’s entire body grew warm as Wooyoung leaned closer to him, the look on his face almost predatory. 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed baby,” he said, voice low and sending a jolt through Yeosang’s body. “You want me to teach you?” 

Yeosang shivered. Wooyoung leaned down until his lips were right next to Yeosang’s ear. “One day I’ll show you _exactly_ how it works.” 

Yeosang let out an embarrassing moan as he felt teeth nibble at his earlobe, another jolt going right between his legs. 

Wooyoung captured his lips again in a searing kiss, Yeosang letting out a gasp. 

The other trailed his hand down Yeosang’s chest, leaving behind a trail of molten lava at his touch, until his hand came to rest at the hem of Yeosang’s shirt, seeming to hesitate. 

Yeosang kissed him harder, pressing against the boy above him, hoping he’d get the message. 

Hesitation gone, Wooyoung slipped his hand under the other’s shirt hem and onto his bare waist, his touch searing. Yeosang let out another surprised gasp, mouth opening, and Wooyoung took the opportunity to slide his tongue inside. 

The combination of feelings was new and overwhelming, but not unwelcome. Yeosang didn’t know whether to focus on the hand trailing across his stomach or the tongue wrapping around his, both sending equal amounts of distressed pleasure to his brain. 

Just as the other’s hand trailed towards Yeosang’s waistband, there was a loud knock on the door. 

“Hey! The captain sent me to get you! Make sure you put your clothes back on before you come out!” came San’s voice. Wooyoung pulled away with an annoyed groan as Yeosang felt his face heat up, and once Wooyoung let go of his hand he quickly brought both of them up to cover his face in embarrassment. 

“I’m going to throw him over the side of the ship,” grumbled Wooyoung with a sigh, slowly moving off of Yeosang and getting up from the bed. Yeosang couldn’t help but let out a giggle at that, causing Wooyoung to smile at him again. 

Wooyoung helped him off the bed, but before they left Yeosang had to stop him, bringing a hand up to smooth down the other’s hair with a smile. 

“You look like we were doing something naughty,” he said softly with a laugh. 

“I was _trying_ to do something naughty,” mumbled Wooyoung in response, causing Yeosang to blush. Wooyoung sighed. “Come on, if we don’t go he’ll just come back and this time he won’t knock.” 

He grabbed Yeosang’s hand and led him up to the deck. As soon as they stepped out Yeosang shivered, a cold gust of wind blowing around them. He should have grabbed a coat. 

Up on the deck, the crew seemed to be acting normal, but Yeosang could tell that the Captain was a bit tense. 

Someone let out a wolf whistle when they saw the two emerge, and Yeosang quickly moved to hide behind Wooyoung. 

“Yah! Yeosang! You made me lose a bet!” yelled San. 

“That’s your fault for betting on us,” replied Wooyoung, sticking his tongue out at San. 

“The mistake was believing Yeosang would somehow be more emotionally stunted than you are,” retorted San. 

“Hey! I’m not that bad!” 

“Calm down, guys,” came Hongjoong’s tired voice. The others quickly quieted, sensing the tension in the Captain’s voice. “We have things to discuss.” 

“What is it, Captain?” asked Yunho. 

“We’ll be reaching the witch within the next week or so but getting there is going to be harder than it sounds. Normally, we sail south during the cold months to avoid harsh winter weather. We don’t have that option here. The witch lives far in the north. The waters up here are dangerous, full of ice below the surface. Everyone needs to be constantly on the lookout so we don’t sink our ship. We’re making one last stop before we head there though. The day crew will stay behind while we sail North. We can’t risk them finding out what we’re doing.” 

“Is that wise?” blurted Yeosang. “Who is going to watch the ship during the day?” 

“The sun doesn’t come out much during the winter months far North,” explained Hongjoong. “Seonghwa and I can take care of the few hours that everyone needs to sleep.” 

“Won’t the crew suspect something if we leave them behind?” 

“Most of them would rather not sail the icy waters. Plus, it’s not the first time we’ve left them behind to do something dangerous. Hyunwoo will take care of them and they’ll be happy for the time off.” 

“What if they see the wanted posters?” 

“I trust Hyunwoo. He’ll take care of it.” 

Yeosang was quiet, lips drawn into a thin line. If Hongjoong trusted Hyunwoo, then he knew he should too, but deep down something was bothering him. Yeosang hoped he could brush it off as feeling protective over Wooyoung since the other human had made his feelings about the vampire quite clear. 

“Okay,” he finally said. Hongjoong studied him for a moment before nodding. 

“We’ll reach port in two days. Make sure you have a list of everything you will need. With the absence of the weight of the crew we can stock up. We may be at sea for over two weeks if we have to dodge pieces of ice and such. Also, the witch keeps herself isolated. There won’t be a town to stock up again before we return to where we drop off the crew.” 

They all nodded. 

“Good. Now go,” said Hongjoong, waving his hand before walking away back towards his cabin. 

“Aye aye, Captain,” said San lazily, pushing off from where he leaned against the rail and immediately throwing himself over Wooyoung and Yeosang’s shoulders. Once the Captain was out of sight he spoke again. 

“Soooo,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows as the two stared at him. “What have _you two_ been up to?” 

The tallest immediately let out a huff of pain as Wooyoung elbowed him in the stomach mercilessly. 

“Shut up.” 

“Oh, come on Wooyoungie, you don’t have to keep secrets from me!” the other pouted, rubbing his side. Suddenly, his face split into a devilish smile. “So, Yeosangie, how was it? Wooyoung’s good isn’t he? He likes it when you- OW!” 

He was cut off once again as Wooyoung hit him in the back with a roundhouse kick, but Yeosang couldn’t pay attention as the two broke into a squabble. He was frozen in shock, the blood in his veins having all but stopped flowing. 

San and Wooyoung were a thing. Had been a thing. Maybe still were. 

And Yeosang was an outsider. So what if they were soulmates or true mates or whatever Wooyoung wanted to call it. San had saved Wooyoung’s life in the past. That had to create a special bond. And Wooyoung had never promised anything to Yeosang, Yeosang didn’t have a right to tell him to stop seeing San. Sure, Wooyoung had said he loved Yeosang but that didn’t mean he couldn’t love San too. And what if San was _better_ than Yeosang. Yeosang was inexperienced in romance and... everything else. Plus, San was another vampire. Yeosang was human. Yeosang would grow old and die while Wooyoung stayed young forever and San lived on for hundreds of more years. 

Suddenly, Wooyoung’s face crowded into his vision. 

“I can feel you overthinking,” he said with a frown. Yeosang blinked, glancing around the deck. It was empty. Yeosang cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“I’m not overthinking,” he said, not meeting Wooyoung’s eyes. 

“You once told me I’m a terrible liar because I can’t look at you when I do it. That’s exactly what you’re doing to me now.” 

Yeosang let out a sigh. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry, just tell me what you’re thinking.” 

“I thought I was supposed to be the one who was good at communication,” said Yeosang, smiling softly. 

Wooyoung gave him a soft smile back. The two were silent for a moment. 

“There’s nothing between me and San,” he finally said softly. 

“But there was,” replied Yeosang, voice barely a whisper. 

“It was only physical. I mean, of course I love him he’s my best friend. But I’ve never been in love with him or had feelings for him like that. He’s never had feelings for me either.” 

Yeosang chewed on his lip. “I believe you,” he said softly after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry, I know it’s stupid to be jealous. I have no right to be it’s not like you owe me anything just because we’re so-“ 

“Shhh,” Wooyoung cut him off, gently grabbing him by the face to meet his eyes. “Honestly, I’m kind of happy you’re jealous. You don’t seem like someone who gets jealous very easily.” 

“I don’t,” said Yeosang quickly. 

“There’s no need to be sorry,” continued Wooyoung. He moved his hands to lace his fingers with Yeosang’s. “Can we go back inside now? Mingi’s been staring at us from the crow’s nest and I really want to kiss you.” 

Yeosang blushed furiously, barely managing to resist pulling his hands from Wooyoung’s to cover his face, but he gave a small nod and let the other boy pull him back to their cabin. 

~*~ 

To say Yeosang was feeling awkward would be an understatement. 

He sat silently, trying to think of something to say as Jongho watched him from the doorway of his and Wooyoung’s cabin. 

Wooyoung had had the idea to call Jongho into their room to plan their prank. However, he made a crucial mistake in that he thought the perfect time would be during the day while they were docked and the day crew was disembarking and the night crew was asleep. There were two major flaws in this plan. One, Wooyoung himself had fallen fast asleep since it was just after lunch. Two, Jongho _wasn’t_ asleep and seemed to be a grouchy kind of tired. 

So, to put it simply, Yeosang was feeling awkward. 

And he didn’t know _why_ . Yeosang was good at reading people. He knew something about him made Jongho uncomfortable, he just didn’t know what. And it wasn’t like he acted awkward around him. They talked together in the group and Jongho smiled around him, they just never talked _alone._ Jongho avoided being alone with him at all costs, even thought he didn’t avoid his existence altogether. And every once in a while, Yeosang would catch the other boy sending him a bright smile before he seemed to catch himself and look away. Like he _knew_ something. Something that Yeosang didn’t. 

“Umm,” he began. “Sorry, Wooyoung asked you to meet us but he fell asleep.” 

“It’s fine,” said Jongho. “He’s never been good at waking up when he needs to.” 

“Right,” said Yeosang awkwardly. 

“What did you guys need me for?” 

“Well, uh, Wooyoung would probably be better at explaining this. Umm, see I wanted to try and see if I could make potions. There are some in the enchantments book that I think might be useful, but I want to test it first so Wooyoung and I were thinking… umm… about trying this one potion as a prank. On Mingi. Wooyoung thought you’d want to help us,” rambled Yeosang. 

Jongho stared at him for a moment and Yeosang felt the embarrassment flow into his face. Just as he was about to apologize, Jongho broke out into a wicked smile. 

“Wooyoung was right. Pranking Mingi happens to be my favourite activity,” he said. 

Yeosang felt the tension melt from his body. “Really?” he asked. 

“Of course. Why were you so worried?” 

Yeosang dropped his gaze to the floor. “I thought... I made you uncomfortable.” 

Jongho’s gaze softened. “You don’t,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry. You don’t make me uncomfortable it’s... my own thing.” 

Yeosang nodded. He knew the other wasn’t telling him the whole truth but wasn’t going to press him. He was growing used to people not telling him things. 

“So, what’s the plan?” asked the vampire. 

“Umm, we should wait for Wooyoung to wake up, I think he already started thinking of a plan.” 

“He’s been awake for a few minutes,” said Jongho. 

Yeosang looked up in shock before turning quickly to look at the sleeping vampire, who now had an eye cracked open and was looking at Jongho with a pout. 

“You guys seemed like you were going to have an important conversation,” he said sleepily. 

“So you planned to eavesdrop?” asked Yeosang, pouting. 

“Yes.” 

“You’re unbelievable.” 

“You still love me though.” 

Yeosang rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to answer before being cut off by Jongho. 

“Can we make a plan _before_ you guys start to flirt so I can leave, I don’t want to witness this,” he said, fake gagging. 

Yeosang flushed, but Wooyoung responded by sticking out his tongue like a child, which Jongho immediately reciprocated. 

“I already _have_ a plan,” said Wooyoung. 

“Enlighten us, please.” 

“Yeosangie and I will go into town tonight so I can swipe some extra ingredients that will make our potion better than it was already going to be. The day crew only has today and tomorrow to get everything they need off the boat, so by this time tomorrow it should be practically empty. While everyone else is the sleep and Seonghwa and the Captain are doing... whatever they do during this time, the three of us can sneak into the kitchen to brew our potion. Then we just trick Mingi into drinking it, which shouldn’t be too hard.” 

“There are so many things that vcould go wrong with that,” said Jongho bluntly. Wooyoung rolled his eyes. 

“Shut up, you just don’t want to admit that I came up with a good plan.” 

“What do you even need me for?” 

“To keep watch.” 

“Why can’t you be the lookout while I help brew the potion?” 

“Neither of us can actually help brew the potion, vampires can’t do magic.” 

“So again, what do you need me for?” 

“Obviously I have to be in there to hand Yeosang the ingredients he needs.” 

“And why can’t I do that?” 

“Cuz I don’t want to be lookout.” 

“You’re a child.” 

“I’m five hundred years older than you.” 

Yeosang giggled, cutting off the vampires’ argument. The two looked at him, embarrassed. 

“We can decide what everyone is going to do tomorrow. The others will be awake soon and I don’t really want them to start making guesses as to what Jongho was doing in our room,” said Yeosang. 

“Ew! I wouldn’t go anywhere near a naked Wooyoung!” said Jongho immediately, making a disgusted face. 

“Ya! Don’t insult Yeosang like that!” 

“I didn’t say anything about Yeosang. I only said I wouldn’t go near _you_.” 

“What does that mean? You’d go near a naked Yeosang? Choose your words wisely.” 

“Better him than you.” 

“That’s it, get out!” said Wooyoung, promptly pushing the youngest vampire out the door and slamming it shut. He turned back to Yeosang, who was red as a tomato but giggling quietly. “What are you smiling about?” he grumbled. 

“You guys are funny to watch. I’ve said that before.” 

“He was being annoying,” whined Wooyoung, flopping back down onto the bed. 

“So were you.” 

“Rude,” he responded, poking Yeosang in the side. Yeosang smiled at him for a moment as Wooyoung relaxed into the bed. 

“Don’t go back to sleep,” he said softly. “We have to go into town, remember?” 

Wooyoung groaned. “Right, we should go tell Seonghwa. If we wait until everyone is awake then they’ll all ask questions about where we’re going and what we’re going.” 

Wooyoung rolled himself off of the bed with a grunt before taking Yeosang’s hand and pulling him up. Yeosang laughed at him softly, bringing up his hands to tame Wooyoung’s bedhead. 

“You can’t go out looking like that.” 

“Why not?” he pouted. Yeosang simply rolled his eyes in response, finishing Wooyoung’s hair before pulling himself out of the other’s grasp to check himself in the mirror. The vampire immediately latched onto his back, watching as Yeosang quickly brushed through his hair and tried to fix his clothes. “Are you done yet?” 

“You’re so impatient,” Yeosang tsked, lightly slapping the other’s hand that rested on his stomach. 

“The sooner we leave the sooner we can come back.” 

“And what are you so eager to come back for?” he asked, meeting Wooyoung’s eyes in the mirror. 

The other’s gaze darkened. “You’ll find out.” 

Yeosang gulped. “L-let’s go,” he said, disentangling himself from Wooyoung’s grasp. The other immediately grabbed his hand again, but this time led him toward the door and out into the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twt/CC @Dazzling_Sang
> 
> dazzlingsang.carrd.co


	14. Boil & Bubble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back :D:D:D
> 
> I promise I didn't abandon this fic, I got so wrapped up in my semester but it was all worth it cuz I got all A's TT
> 
> Anyways, this chapter is a bit of a mess. I need to get back into the swing of this story, and I couldn't find my detailed outline anywhere only the basic one :(:(:(
> 
> At some point in my life I'll beta read this story instead of yolo posting at 4am but today is not that day

Their plan had gone miraculously well. They had swiped ingredients in the town with no trouble, Yeosang covering his hair with a hood as he and Wooyoung darted through alleys to avoid being seen, just in case the Wanted posters had reached this corner of the continent as well. For someone who had never stolen anything in his life, Yeosang found he was surprisingly good at it. Or maybe Wooyoung was just a good teacher. 

Now they sat in the kitchen, Yeosang hunched over the book with a boiling pot in front of him. And he was about ready to kick Wooyoung out of the room. 

“Is it done yet?” 

“No, Wooyoung.” 

“Is it supposed to be green?” 

“Yes, Wooyoung.” 

“What do you think would happen if we added extra ingredients?” 

“I don’t know, Wooyoung.” 

The questions were endless, and Yeosang was just trying to follow the book’s instructions. Wooyoung even kept trying to peek into the pot, almost getting splashed in the eye. 

“If you try to touch the potion one more time, I swear I will kick you out of the room to be on watch duty and Jongho can help me instead,” said Yeosang, not looking up from his book as he sensed Wooyoung once again trying to pop a bubble on the surface of the potion with his finger. 

“You’re no fun,” whined Wooyoung. 

“So you want to go outside then?” 

“No!” said the other, immediately moving to drape himself over Yeosang’s back and look at the book over his shoulder. “It’s even more boring out there.” 

“Jongho is out there.” 

“But you aren’t.” 

Yeosang felt his cheeks heat up. “Don’t be cheesy.” 

“It’s not cheesy it’s romantic.” 

“It’s actually disgusting!” yelled Jongho through the door. 

“Not as disgusting as you!” responded Wooyoung. 

Yeosang rolled his eyes, lightly elbowing Wooyoung in the stomach. ”Get off of me, I need to stir.” 

He felt Wooyoung pout, but the weight on his back lifted. Yeosang immediately set about stirring the potion. Two stirs clockwise, one counterclockwise, repeat three times. That’s what the book said. 

At least he hoped that’s what the book said. Yeosang was slightly afraid his translations were wrong and he was going to end up blowing them all up. 

There was a moment of silence as Yeosang concentrated on counting his stirs. 

“Is it done yet?” came Wooyoung’s voice again, causing Yeosang to flinch on his last stir. A suspiciously large bubble formed in the center of the potion, and Yeosang held his breath for a moment before it dissipated. 

He turned around and slapped Wooyoung on the chest. 

“Don’t do that!” he yelled. 

“What happened?” came Jongho’s voice through the door. 

“Nothing!” Wooyoung responded. 

“If I don’t do this right, who knows what will happen!” admonished Yeosang. 

“You were just stirring!” 

“It has to be stirred a certain way.” 

“Magic is weird,” complained Wooyoung. 

“You’re weird!” came Jongho’s voice. 

A moment of silence. 

“That was weak, even for you,” replied Wooyoung. 

“Listen, I’m bored out of my mind out here!” said Jongho. “Can’t I just come in? We can hear if someone is approaching anyways.” 

“Fine, come in here and distract Wooyoung _please,_ ” said Yeosang, exasperated. 

Immediately the door to the kitchens swung open and Jongho trudged inside. 

“Thank the gods, I was so bored out there!” he said, sitting on top of one of the tables near the couple. 

Yeosang rolled his eyes. “I realized it probably would look more suspicious if someone came and saw you sitting out there anyways.” 

“You’re probably right,” said Jongho. “So what’s going on in here?” 

“Nothing, it’s almost done. I just have one more stir pattern to do and the final ingredient to add in about five minutes.” 

“Why do you answer his questions and not mine?” whined Wooyoung. 

“Stop whining, you big baby,” replied Yeosang. “What we need to do is discuss how we’re going to get Mingi to take it.” 

“Honestly he might just drink it if you give it to him,” said Wooyoung. 

“We’re not doing that, that’s suspicious,” argued Jongho. 

“I have two ideas,” interjected Yeosang before the two could devolve into another bickering match. “Does he need to... _feed_ soon? We could try mixing it in the blood.” 

“No,” said Wooyoung quickly. “Don’t mess with a vampire’s blood. Plus, Mingi has the sharpest sense of taste out of all of us when it comes to blood. He’ll know immediately something is wrong. Human food though? He has no idea.” 

“Okay, so that brings me to my second idea. We docked today, which means the others are going to bring back a huge store of food and drink. Including alcohol. What if I mix it in a drink and tell everyone I’m experimenting? If I give everyone a drink it will look less suspicious.” 

“Then how will we tell if it’s working or if he’s just drunk? Mingi’s a big lightweight.” 

“I won’t actually put alcohol in his.” 

“That could work,” piped up Jongho. “And if everyone else is drunk they won’t suspect anything. He himself will also just think he’s drunk.” 

“Seems simple enough, I think we can pull it off,” said Wooyoung. 

Yeosang smiled. “Good. I’m kind of excited, I’ve never pranked anyone before.” 

Wooyoung grinned back at him, wrapping an arm back around his waist. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you turned into a proper delinquent in no time.” 

Yeosang turned his smile to Jongho, only to find the other looking back at him with an unreadable expression. When he noticed Yeosang’s gaze on him, he gave a forced smile. 

“Well, since that’s settled, I have something to share,” said Jongho. Wooyoung looked at him curiously. “Yesterday, I happened to see some of what Seonghwa bought. Including something he decided to hide from us. I think we should let him know that not sharing is mean.” 

Wooyoung’s face lit up with a wicked smile. “What did he buy?” 

Instead of responding, Jongho hopped off the counter and moved to rummage around in one of the cupboards before pulling out a nondescript box. Yeosang looked at it curiously from his spot on the floor when he felt Wooyoung jump up in excitement, quickly leaving his side. 

“Chocolate!” the other boy yelled, snatching the box from Jongho’s hands and opening it. 

Immediately, the air in the kitchen was filled with a sweet smell. Something that was eerily familiar to Yeosang although he had no memory of it. He watched as Wooyoung immediately stuffed a piece of something dark brown into his mouth and let out a loud moan. 

“Don’t defile our chocolate with your nasty noises,” said Jongho, making a disgusted face before popping a piece in his mouth and letting out a satisfied hum. “Sang-ah, come try a piece,” he said, holding out the box to Yeosang. 

“Ya!” said Wooyoung, mouth still full. “One prank and you’re already giving him nicknames?” 

Yeosang, who had stood and walked towards the counter, watched as a sort of embarrassed surprise flashed over Jongho’s face before he quickly shifted into a smirk. 

“Why, does it make you jealous?” he asked Wooyoung. Wooyoung sputtered. 

“I just don’t want him to be uncomfortable!” 

“I’m not uncomfortable,” responded Yeosang without glancing at the two, instead carefully picking up a piece of chocolate from the box and tentatively inspecting it. “I thought Seonghwa couldn’t eat food?” 

“If you haven’t noticed, he’s kind of dumb. He likes to eat some things because he loves the taste and then he spends half the night vomiting over the side of the boat. Says it’s worth it but I’m not convinced,” responded Jongho, chewing on another piece. 

“Hmm,” responded Yeosang thoughtfully, before popping his own piece into his mouth. 

Immediately, there was an explosion of flavor. It was a perfect combination of sweet and bitter, causing him to let out an embarrassing groan. 

The other two stopped bickering, frozen. 

“That good, huh?” asked Jongho with a smirk. Yeosang nodded, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. 

“Sangie,” whined Wooyoung. “Don’t make noises like that in front of other men.” 

If Yeosang could explode on the spot, he was pretty sure he would have. 

“That’s my cue to leave!” said Jongho, disgusted. He grabbed the box and fled down the stairs to hide in his room. 

“Hey, he took the chocolate,” came a whine from Wooyoung. Yeosang turned away, face burning, moving to bottle up their finished potion. 

The room went quiet, but he felt Wooyoung watching him. 

“Yeosang,” he finally spoke, voice much more serious than it had been moments ago. 

Yeosang hummed in question, still not looking at the other. 

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? Seeing the witch?” 

Yeosang was silent as he put a cork in the potion bottle, and remained so as he brought the finished product back to the counter. Wooyoung only watched him, before Yeosang finally let out a sigh. 

“Is there any other choice?” he asked softly. 

“We can find another way.” 

“And how long will that take? I need to know, Wooyoung. Since you and the Captain don’t want to tell me whatever it is you know, I don’t have a lot of other options,” said Yeosang, peering up at Wooyoung who remained perched on the counter. Wooyoung looked back at him, a sad and guilty expression on his face. 

“I’m so-“ 

“Don’t,” interrupted Yeosang. “I don’t need you to apologize, I’m not mad. I understand your reasoning, even if I don’t really agree with it. But I can’t wait any longer. Not when there’s someone looking for me. And not when it seems to be connected to you in more ways than one.” 

“You don’t need to be worried about me,” responded Wooyoung immediately. 

“But I _am_ ,” said Yeosang , voice rising unconsciously. “Whatever it is that you haven’t told me, I can _feel_ that it’s dangerous. And I can’t shake the feeling that you’re going to get hurt and it’s going to be all my fault.” 

Yeosang’s hands were shaking as he stared down at the counter in front of him, and before he realized it a hand reached over to steady them. 

“Hey, look at me,” said Wooyoung. Yeosang turned his gaze to the other. “Nothing is going to happen to me.” 

Yeosang studied his face. “You can’t say that for certain.” 

“I can. People have been trying to kill me my whole life, Yeosang. But it’s only now that I truly have a reason to survive again. I have this crew, they’re my family, and I have you. I won’t die that easily.” 

Yeosang released another shuddering breath. “Okay,” is all he said. Wooyoung beamed at him, and Yeosang couldn’t help but give him a small smile in return despite the bubble of anxiety that remained in his chest. 

“Now,” began Wooyoung before planting a light kiss on Yeosang’s nose. “Let’s clean up before someone comes back.” 

As Yeosang watched the other vampire hop off the counter and move to grab the pot to wash, he tried to push down the worries in his heart. 

~*~ 

It was late that night when, after they’d left the day crew behind and somehow managed to sail the massive ship away from port with only 8 of them (seven, really, since Yeosang had no clue how to help with ship things), they finally settled down and Hongjoong pulled out five massive bottles of alcohol he’d acquired at the port. The younger ones, particularly San, Yunho, and Mingi, cheered a bit too loud and Yeosang couldn’t help but smile as they jumped out of their seats. 

“It’s been a while since we’ve sailed without the day crew,” said Hongjoong with a grin, clearly having already broken into the rum as he began to speak with a slur. “Who’s ready for some drinks?” 

The only response was a loud chorus of cheers. 

“Before we start, Yeosang has a lil’ surprise for us! He said he read somethin’ about making us some fancy drinks. Since he was a barkeep before, I say we let ‘im try!” 

Another round of cheers. Yeosang gave a smile in return, hoping they wouldn’t notice his nerves. He quickly stood up, grabbing one of the bottles. 

“I’ll go to the kitchen then,” he said quickly. Wooyoung immediately got up to follow, but was quickly grabbed by San. 

“Wooyoungie,” he whined. “You never spend time with us, Yeosang will survive a trip to the kitchen by himself.” 

Wooyoung shot him an apologetic look, but Yeosang only let out a small giggle. Surprisingly, he felt no jealousy as San clung to Wooyoung’s back, only laughed at the look of distress the older vampire shot him. 

However, as he entered the kitchen alone he couldn’t help but wish the other had come with him. He was nervous. Nervous that something had gone wrong with the potion or that he would mix something wrong. 

He took a deep breath, steadying himself as he grabbed eight of the biggest glasses he could find. He realized, belatedly, that he had no idea what to do for everyone else’s drinks. Would they even be able to tell if he mixed something in? Thinking back to his mother’s tavern, he remembered that some wealthier merchants often mixed citrus fruit in their mead. But one whiff of the uncorked bottle and Yeosang could immediately tell that it was not mead. It was rum. Figures. 

Yeosang chewed on his lip, thinking, before deciding to mix Mingi’s first and then just try and make something approximately the same color. To his dismay, upon being finished their potion had turned a bright blue color, which would be highly noticeable when next to the yellow colored rum. 

It took him a worryingly long time to find something to use, finally deciding on some sweet ginger liquid that Hongjoong had bought in port as a treat. He hoped it would blend well with the rum flavor. 

Unfortunately, just as he had predicted, the blue of the potion turned Mingi’s drink a nasty sort of green color. No matter how much he stirred, how much he hoped, he was stuck. 

Suddenly, footsteps were quickly approaching. Whipping to face the door, he shifted his body so that it covered Mingi’s drink, sighing in relief when the door opened to reveal Jongho. 

“What’s taking so long?” he asked. “They’re about to start drinking without you.” 

Yeosang let out a groan of frustration. “The stupid potion is blue!” he said, stepping to the side to reveal Mingi’s drink. 

“So?” asked Jongho, confused. 

“ _So_ his drink looks different than the rest,” he said, gesturing behind him. 

“No it doesn’t.” 

“Yes it does, it’s gre-“ his words were cut off from his own mouth as he turned back to the counter to find eight perfectly identical drinks staring back at him. “Oh. I guess it just needed some time to settle?” he said. 

Jongho simply shrugged, moving to grab five of the glasses. “Let’s go,” he said. Yeosang quickly grabbed the other three and followed Jongho back to the main deck, unable to shake the feeling that something strange had just happened. 

As soon as they were within sight, the others cheered, immediately reaching for the drinks. Jongho took extra care not to let Mingi grab one from him, making him wait for Yeosang and passing it off as teasing. 

Yeosang tried to push down his strange feeling, smiling at his cheering crewmates, but almost froze when he turned to Seonghwa, the older looking at him with an unreadable gaze. Almost like he _knew_ Yeosang had done something. 

He waited for the other to speak, but Seonghwa simply turned to Jongho with a smile as he took his drink, the strange tension dissipating as soon as it had arrived. 

~*~ 

It only took one glass for them to confirm Yeosang’s potion had worked. In fact, it had worked too well. Yeosang had intentionally made it weaker, but perhaps Mingi was just rather unlucky in the first place. 

It started with him falling out of his chair. Then he spilled his second glass of rum down his shirt. San was practically howling by then, shouting claims of Mingi being already drunk. Yeosang himself was feeling a little bit tipsy, his cheeks warm as he leaned back against Wooyoung who had settled permanently behind him. It seemed the drunker Yeosang got, the clumsier Mingi became. 

The next time he stood up, he slid on his bootlace. Yunho howled with laughter, kneeling on the ground and slapping the deck with one hand. 

Mingi was animatedly telling a story when he accidentally slapped himself in the face. That one had even Jongho on the ground. 

They finished two bottles before Seonghwa had to make a beeline to the railing and San was practically passed out on the deck. Yeosang knew morning would be coming soon, so he wasn’t surprised when Hongjoong stood up and told them all to head to bed. 

The others loudly and clumsily got up from their chairs or spots on the deck, Jongho, who seemed to be not even tipsy, moving to effortlessly pick up San while Mingi and Yunho supported each other by the shoulders, giggling all the way to their room. Hongjoong himself softly made his way over to where Seonghwa was still heaving over the edge of the ship. Yeosang was sure he’d be quick to follow since neither of them could consume food _or_ drink according to their curse. He nudged Wooyoung with his elbow to get the other to move. 

Wooyoung, clearly drunk at this point, had spent the last hour with his nose buried in Yeosang’s neck. His hands had long ventured under Yeosang’s shirt hem, where the rubbed circled in his hips. 

When he didn’t move after the first nudge, Yeosang wiggled from his spot between the other’s legs, trying to detach himself. 

Wooyoung let out a grunt of disapproval, tightening his grip and pulling Yeosang back against his chest. 

“Wooyoung,” Yeosang whined with a slight slur. “Let’s go back to the room before the Captain joins Seonghwa in his vomit party.” 

Yeosang giggled at his own words. 

Wooyoung let out a huff of air, tickling Yeosang’s neck and causing him to giggle even louder and wiggle in his spot again. 

“Hey, that tickles!” he said. Wooyoung still refused to let him go. “Woo, please, I want to sleep.” 

With a groan of annoyance, Wooyoung pulled his face back. But instead of letting go, he tightened his grip and stood up, pulling Yeosang with him. Before he could even register it Yeosang found himself turned around and flung over Wooyoung’s shoulder, letting out a slight huff as the air was knocked from his stomach. 

He giggled again. He knew if he was sober, he wouldn’t be happy being thrown around like that but in his more than tipsy state he couldn’t help but find it hilarious. 

Wooyoung carried a giggling Yeosang all the way to their room and dumped him unceremoniously on the bed. 

He shifted for a moment, trying to calm himself before he looked up at Wooyoung and found himself immediately silenced by the other’s gaze. 

The way Wooyoung was looking at him was positively predatory. If he was any more sober he would have noticed the other’s eyes were a deep crimson, dark and calculating. 

Yeosang gulped. 

That seemed to break whatever spell they were under. Wooyoung moved, but slowly. He climbed onto the bed at an agonizing pace, and unconsciously Yeosang leaned back until he lay against the pillows and Wooyoung loomed over him. 

There was silence, nothing but the sound of their breaths as Wooyoung leaned stared at him, unmoving. 

It was Yeosang who broke the tension, his arms moving of their own accord as they reached up and pulled Wooyoung against him, slamming their lips together. 

Wooyoung kissed him with nothing but hunger. It was all teeth and tongue and swallowing moans. Yeosang was filled with a fever he’d never felt before, his hands finding their grip in Wooyoung’s hair and pulling him as close as possible. Wooyoung wasn’t any better, pressing his weight against Yeosang as much as he possibly could. Yeosang could swear he felt his tongue run over fangs in Wooyoung’s mouth, and it was only confirmed as he felt something sharp graze his lip and he gasped as he tasted blood. 

He felt more than heard the growl that Wooyoung let out as the other tensed and pulled away. Yeosang was sure that if he’d been sober he’d be embarrassed by the heart wrenching noise he let out as Wooyoung’s presence disappeared. 

For a moment he simply laid there, staring at the ceiling, listening to Wooyoung’s heavy breathing across the room. 

“When… are you… going to stop… doing that?” he asked between his own heavy breaths. When he didn’t receive an answer, he finally lifted himself with a huff to eye the other across the room. 

Wooyoung stood in the corner of the room, body half hidden in shadow, but Yeosang could still see the red of his eyes and the glint of his fangs as he stared directly at him. 

“Wooyoung,” he started again, breathing slowing down. “Come back to me.” 

Wooyoung gave a slight, almost imperceptible shake of his head. 

“ _Wooyoung_ ,” repeated Yeosang. “I’m fine. I’m not hurt.” 

Wooyoung’s gaze darted to Yeosang’s lip where it had been cut on his fang, but he took a tentative step toward the bed. Yeosang held out his hand. 

“It doesn’t even hurt,” he said, despite knowing it was going to sting in the morning. Finally, Wooyoung took a few more steps toward him, grabbing Yeosang’s hand and letting himself be guided to sit on the bed. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, voice slightly muffled by his fangs. 

“For what?” 

“The alcohol makes it harder to control…” 

“So don’t control it,” argued Yeosang. Wooyoung gave him a warning look. 

“I have to.” 

“No, you don’t. I’ve told you before, Wooyoung. I’m not afraid of you.” 

“Yeosang, I had _one drop_ of blood and I almost lost it. I can still smell it and can’t even put my fangs away. You’re drunk right now, even if you say it’s ok I’m not risking it.” 

Yeosang sighed. He was silent for a moment, before untangling his hand from Wooyoung’s and lifting it to the other’s cheek, forcefully turning his face to meet his gaze. He slowly leaned in, searching for any sign of rejection, before softly pressing their lips together. 

The kiss was soft, but not chaste. Yeosang had never taken the lead before, but as he felt Wooyoung respond to him he tentatively parted his lips and the other followed, allowing him to timidly explore the other’s mouth. The other was giving him complete control, and Yeosang carefully ran his tongue along the other’s fang. He knew his lip was still bleeding, knew Wooyoung could taste his blood, but Wooyoung was still, only moving with Yeosang’s guidance. 

He slowly pulled away, opening his eyes to find Wooyoung’s still softly shut, his breathing deep and steady. When his eyes fluttered open, Yeosang was met with a soft brown color, only a ring of crimson around the pupil. He smiled softly. 

“There, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?” asked Yeosang, a little breathless. 

Wooyoung gave him a soft but bright smile in return, fangs gone. 

“You…” he began, struggling for words. “You’re magic, you know?” 

Yeosang felt the heat rise to his face, falling back on the bed as he covered his face with his hands. “Don’t say things like that,” he groaned. 

Wooyoung chuckled and Yeosang felt the bed shift before Wooyoung grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the head of the bed before wrapping his arms around him and pulling Yeosang to his chest. Yeosang instantly relaxed, smiling against the other’s shirt. 

No more words needed to be said between them, but he felt like something important had shifted for the better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading~ I have big things planned in the next chapter so look forward to it!
> 
> twt/cc @Dazzling_Sang
> 
> dazzlingsang.carrd.co

**Author's Note:**

> chapter 1 is just an intro so I'm uploading the first two chapters at once!!!


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